Kamen Rider ZZZ from the American comic book world

"That guy who used to live a life of debauchery and now talks about protecting peace?" Dr. Banner expressed the general opinion of most people regarding Tony.

“But he has resources and technology, and can be our helper,” Li Ai said with a smile.

"Please open a portal for me, let me scout it out first. The coordinates are..."

“Okay,” Banner replied.

Then, the portal opened in front of Li Ai, and in the blink of an eye, he appeared at the door of Tony's villa in the woods.

In the villa's underground workshop, Tony, who was busy upgrading his Iron Man armor, heard Jarvis's question.

“Sir, Mr. Leah Scott is at the door. Would you like to see him?”

“Li Ai? Isn’t it school time now?” Tony put down his work and waved his hand, and a holographic surveillance screen appeared in front of him.

"And he didn't even drive. How did he get here? Oh well, let him in first."

Tony was a little confused, but he still let Li Ai into the villa.

Shortly after, Tony and Li Ai met in the villa's living room.

"Long time no see, Mr. Stark."

"Is that mobile library working well?" Tony asked. "And what would you like to drink? I have everything here."

"Coffee, extra espresso, please," Li Ai replied, simultaneously dropping a tracker as Tony turned away and using that time to confirm Tony's identity.

There is only one door to the dream world, which cannot be opened because Tony is not asleep, but Li Ai can sense Tony's subconscious world.

Only after hearing jarring rock music instead of arrogant declarations of conquering the Earth did Li Ai realize that Tony hadn't been replaced by the Skrulls.

While operating the coffee machine, Tony asked, "So, why isn't a good student like you in school? Why are you coming to see me instead?"

“Because there are more important things to do.” Li Ai replied while taking out her ZZZ phone and making a call to Dr. Banner in Kamar-Taj.

A circular portal, seemingly made of golden sparks, appeared before Tony's eyes. Then, Dr. Banner pushed the three corpses to the villa in New York.

“Hello, Tony Stark,” Banner greeted him. “I’m Bruce Banner.”

"..."

Tony stopped what he was doing, looked at the portal, then at the three Skrull corpses, his mind a bit of a mess, unsure where to begin.

"What is that halo? And what are those three corpses? What exactly is going on?"

“Listen, Tony Stark, Earth is under threat from an alien invader called the Skrulls,” Li Ai said in a serious tone.

Upon hearing this, Tony's pupils contracted, and his thoughts began to wander. He looked at Li Ai and asked with a hint of wariness:

"You're not some S.H.I.E.L.D. agent trained by Nick Fury, are you?"

“My only connection with them is that S.H.I.E.L.D. is monitoring me,” Li Ai confessed, while taking out an impact capsule and the ZZZ Driver appearing on his chest.

Chapter 88 Tony: I'm going to die?

Looking at the scene before him, Tony finally guessed Li Ai's true identity, and he said in disbelief:

"You're ZZZ, Kamen Rider ZZZ?"

Although Tony found it hard to believe that the young man he had his eye on was actually Kamen Rider ZZZ, who had fought alongside him twice, he wasn't angry at Li Ai for keeping it a secret. Instead, he felt that Li Ai had avoided some troublesome guys by doing so.

“That’s right.” Li Ai’s mind raced, and the driver and capsule vanished simultaneously. Then, she got straight to the point:

"Dr. Banner and I want to use your equipment to study these alien invaders called Skrulls."

As they spoke, all three of them focused their gaze on the Skrull corpse.

Upon seeing the alien corpse for the first time, Tony took two steps forward and examined the body closely.

"Green skin, pointed ears, and humanoid shape—they look like the lizard people from urban legends. What are their distinctive features?"

"Disguise, on a physiological level, it's almost a perfect replica. As long as they maintain their disguise, no instrument on Earth can detect it." Li Ai's words struck Tony like a bolt from the blue.

But Tony felt that if Li Ai could get his hands on these Skrull corpses, it meant he must have some way of identifying them, so he asked:

"So how did you manage to capture these alien shapeshifters?"

“Our initial approach was a bit clumsy,” Li Ai explained, spreading his hands. “First, the Skrulls are physically stronger than ordinary Earthlings, and second, their physical condition doesn’t change while they’re in disguise.”

“I get it.” Tony snapped his fingers and, drawing inferences, said, “Even if they become an old lady who needs a cane, they still have the ability to participate in the Olympics, is that what you mean?”

“That’s right, but I have a new method now.” Li Ai nodded affirmatively, and as he spoke, he handed Tony several ZZZ trackers, explaining:

"This tool can help me locate the target's dream, but when the Skrulls disguise themselves, they completely replicate the target's physiological information, which means I can lock onto two dreams at the same time. As long as one piece of information can lock onto two dreams, it means that the target has been replaced by the Skrulls."

Tony took the trackers, wondering how he could determine if Pepper, Happy, and Rhodes had been replaced by the Skrulls.

“However, since we haven’t been ruled by a bunch of lizardmen yet, it means we still have time, right?” Tony asked with a glimmer of hope.

“Nobody can say for sure, Stark,” Dr. Banner said. “So we need to hurry.”

Tony had actually heard of Bruce Banner before, knew that he was a genius scientist with seven degrees, and had even read Banner's papers, so he didn't ridicule him and even generously granted him all the permissions.

“Jarvis, grant Dr. Banner the same access as me, allowing him to access all resources,” Tony said generously.

Subsequently, several drones assisted Banner in transporting the Skrull remains to the underground laboratory, allowing Banner to begin the next phase of his work.

Only Li Ai and Tony remained in the hall.

Upon learning that Li Ai was Kamen Rider ZZZ, Tony was instead troubled by a question that he couldn't help but ask.

"So how did you know to use the exhibition model to alert me to the new element?"

Tony recently received his father's belongings from S.H.I.E.L.D., which included a video containing clues. He's curious why Leah, who has never met Howard Stark, knows this clue.

"You know that my abilities are closely related to Meng Qiang, right?" Li Ai countered.

“I know, you provided me with evidence of Obadiah’s crimes in my dream.” Tony nodded.

“Then you should know about a type of dream called a ‘precognitive dream’, right?” Li Ai explained. “I have these kinds of dreams uncontrollably, and it’s hard to say what I can actually see. It’s also a bold attempt to inspire you to discover new elements.”

"So you saw in your precognitive dream how I discovered the new element my dad left behind," Tony said, suddenly realizing. He readily accepted this fact, even asking in a half-joking tone:

"Then can you see my future?"

“I’ve seen a future that I don’t know if it will ever happen.” Li Ai said in a heavy tone, recalling Tony Stark risking his life to create an opportunity for victory in Endgame:

"You may die, Tony Stark."

Upon hearing this, Tony was stunned for a moment before he finally reacted.

"So, how will I die? Insignificantly, or spectacularly?" Tony asked.

“A spectacular event,” Li Ai replied.

"That's good."

Tony smiled again, put his hands in his pockets, looked out the window silently noting the possible future events, and then asked Li Ai:

"Did you dream of any other information about the Skrulls?"

"If I had to say, there is indeed one more..."

Li Ai recounted how Nick Fury and Captain Marvel decided to take in the Skrulls in 1995, and how the Skrulls had recently begun to act aggressively, including a series of assassinations of Norman Osborn.

After he finished telling the story, Tony's face instantly fell, and he gritted his teeth and said:

“That Nick Fury guy took in a bunch of shapeshifting aliens without telling anyone. What a bastard! He even tried to recruit me into a special situation response team a while ago. Fuck, I will never agree to that!”

Li Ai had been studying the Skrull corpses and cursing Nick Fury for the past few days, and had long since developed a resistance to it. Only after Tony had tired of cursing did he suggest:

"But we'd better bring a team, since the enemy isn't some thugs that can be dealt with one-on-one, but rather the radicals of an alien race, who could number in the hundreds or even thousands."

“But we’ll have to leave Nick Fury out of the picture and go it alone.” Tony rubbed his temples. “Right now, this team consists of you, me, Dr. Banner, is there anyone else?”

“I have at least three other superhumans around me, all of whom are very promising,” Li Ai said. “The savior team is already taking shape.”

"That makes at least six people now." Tony felt slightly relieved. "Do you think there are any other people who can help fight the Skrull invasion?"

“I do know one.” Li Ai remembered one, and although it might be a bit difficult, he still said it.

“Dr. Hank Pym, I heard about him in a dream. He was your father’s colleague when he was still working at S.H.I.E.L.D., but they had a very bad falling out.”

"Could it be that my bastard dad has gotten involved with someone else's fiancée again?" Tony frowned and asked worriedly.

“This time it’s not,” Li Ai said. “Your father tried to use Dr. Pym’s research results in the military field without informing him.”

“That sounds even more serious than dating his fiancée.” Tony was quite troubled, but he still had the idea of ​​winning over Dr. Pym. “Never mind, leave the negotiations with Dr. Pym to me.”

“Okay.” Li Ai nodded, then changed the subject, “I’ll leave the Skrull research to you and Dr. Banner for now. I need to figure out how to deal with the Skrulls who are eyeing Osborn.”

Chapter 89 I Want You to Pretend

Not long after, late at night

In a luxurious villa on the outskirts of New York City, Norman Osborne was still busy with company affairs.

As he was working on documents in his study, the room lights flickered, followed by a gentle breeze.

This slightly strange scene did not panic Norman. He put down the documents in his hand, looked up at the dimly lit area, and called out its name:

"You've finally arrived, ZZZ."

In the dim light, Li Ai, who had just confirmed that Norman had not been replaced by the Skrulls, stood against the wall, appearing in the Osborn family villa in Kamen Rider ZZZ Muscle Impact form.

He knew very well that the recovery capsules had not cured Norman Osborn's genetic disease. Although Norman could still communicate normally, he could not completely let his guard down, because Li Ai still vividly remembered the Green Goblin's crazy behavior in the movie in his previous life.

Before the Osborn family's genetic disease is cured, Li Ai will remain wary of Norman, which is why he seeks cooperation with Norman under the identity of Kamen Rider ZZZ.

“You should know that both attacks during this period were aimed at you, Norman Osborn,” Li Ai said calmly.

“Yes, that’s what’s been bothering me too,” Norman said, standing up. “But now it seems you know some inside information, don’t you?”

The Osborne family has long been plagued by a genetic disease. Every male member of the family will develop the disease at the age of twenty. After that, the genetic disease will cause their immunity to decline and damage normal genes, leading to leukemia and malignant tumors.

Norman's father didn't even live past forty. Even with access to the highest level of modern medical resources, he only had a few years left to live.

However, Li Ai used the recovery capsule to restore Norman to the state he was in when he first fell ill at the age of twenty, buying him at least a decade or so. Therefore, Norman was still very grateful to ZZZ because he gave Norman the time to watch Harry grow up and temporarily eliminate the need for him to research the serum with a radical attitude.

“You’re very smart.” Li Ai tossed Norman a stack of autopsy photos of Skrull corpses and explained:

"They are called Skrulls, and they possess near-perfect camouflage abilities. Their goal is to conquer the Earth."

Norman looked through the photos of the Skrull corpses and gradually realized a truth that sent chills down his spine.

"So they want to replace me, to turn Osborn into a pawn in their conquest of the earth?"

“That seems to be the case at the moment,” Li Ai replied. “And there might be Skrull spies in your company, which is why your whereabouts have been exposed time and time again.”

Upon hearing this, Norman clenched his fists and said in a serious tone, "What do you need me to do?"

“Simple.” Li Ai took out the projection capsule, turned it gently, and a physical clone exactly like him appeared in front of Norman.

"I need you to stay out of the public eye during this period, and all matters should be handled by this entity's clone."

“To catch fish, you need bait. I agree to your plan, ZZZ.” Norman smiled. He was willing to cooperate, but he also had his own ideas, so he asked:

"Your clone doesn't have my memories, right?"

“Yes, so I need you to selectively give the clone some memories to confuse the Skrulls.” Li Ai waved his hand, and a holographic panel appeared in front of Norman’s physical clone, explaining:

"Just put your hand on it."

"okay, I get it."

Norman stepped forward and followed Li Ai's instructions. To ensure credibility, he gave the entity a lot of company secrets, but withheld the secrets that truly affected the safety of him and his son.

A short while later, Li Ai looked at Norman, who had completed the memory transfer, and asked, "Do you need me to help you find a hiding place?"

“No need, I have my own.” Norman turned and walked toward the bookshelf. He pushed aside the books and pressed a button on the wall tile behind the solid wood bookshelf.

The next moment, the wall opened to both sides, revealing an elevator.

"Would you like to come down with me and take a look?" Norman invited kindly. "I didn't give my clone any memories of this matter, so this is the most suitable hiding place."

Li Ai looked into Norman's eyes, thought for a moment, and finally followed Norman into the elevator.

The two took the elevator together to a spacious underground space.

This place is filled with all sorts of technological equipment produced by Osborn, including flying skateboards, robotic arms, exoskeletons, powered armor, pumpkin bombs and spinning darts that Li Ai had seen in movies in her previous life, as well as reserve supplies enough for a person to survive for a year.

It's practically Osborne's private arsenal... Li Ai thought to herself, but asked aloud:

"Tell me why you showed me these things."