Earth had fallen into chaos.
After the attack on the research facility and the theft of the Tesseract, the entire situation had spiraled into something far beyond the control of ordinary governments. In the face of unprecedented instability, S.H.I.E.L.D—the organization dedicated to dealing with supernatural threats—could no longer remain passive.
Under the leadership of Director Nick Fury, a long-prepared contingency plan was officially activated.
The Avengers Initiative.
The reason for creating the Avengers was simple. The world needed a group capable of resisting extraterrestrial invasions and supernatural disasters, something conventional armies could never hope to achieve.
A team composed of individuals with extraordinary abilities.
A team of superheroes.
The candidate list had already been finalized.
The first was Captain America, Steve Rogers, the legendary soldier who had led Allied forces to victory during World War II and crushed the Hydra conspiracy before disappearing into history.
Next was Tony Stark, owner of Stark Industries, the most influential technology magnate in New York and the armored hero known to the world as Iron Man.
Then there was Dr. Bruce Banner, the scientist who had been exposed to gamma radiation during a failed experiment and transformed into the unstoppable monster known as the Hulk.
Another candidate was Natasha Romanoff, the elite S.H.I.E.L.D agent known as the Black Widow, a deadly spy whose reputation as an assassin had become legendary.
Clint Barton—Hawkeye—had also been on the list.
Unfortunately, Barton was no longer available.
After encountering Loki, the god of mischief had used the power of the Mind Stone hidden within the scepter to control him completely. The once-loyal agent had become nothing more than a puppet under Loki's command.
And at that moment, Loki was making rapid progress with his plans.
Armed with the scepter granted to him by Thanos, Loki had begun gathering resources across Europe. Using the power of the Mind Stone, he easily brainwashed several renowned scientists and forced them to work under his command.
"Still missing one component," Loki muttered as he studied the research data in front of him. "A stabilizing element capable of maintaining spatial equilibrium."
Opening a stable portal required more than raw energy.
That was why he needed scientists.
And that was why he needed the Tesseract.
The plan was simple.
Using the Tesseract—an artifact containing the Space Stone—they would open a stable gateway between worlds.
Once the portal was complete, the army waiting on the other side would arrive.
The Chitauri Legion.
An alien army under the command of Thanos.
The thought alone made Loki smile coldly.
"I will build my kingdom among the ruins of this world," he said softly. "Then Odin and Thor, who always looked down on me, will finally see what I'm capable of."
Odin was known as the All-Father, the king of Asgard and ruler of the Nine Realms. In ancient times, Earth had once been considered part of his domain.
Thousands of years ago, the Frost Giants of Jotunheim had attempted to invade the planet.
It was Odin himself who had led Asgardian warriors to defeat them.
But that was the past.
"The Bifrost has been destroyed," Loki said with confidence. "Asgard has lost its ability to travel between worlds. The old man Odin is weak now. He cannot stop me."
Loki's plan had been carefully calculated.
As the god of trickery, he prided himself on always thinking several steps ahead.
But then something unexpected happened.
He suddenly sensed a familiar energy.
"What…?"
Loki rushed to the window and stared toward the distant night sky.
Far away on the horizon, a brilliant beam of light descended from space.
A rainbow-colored pillar.
The Bifrost.
"No… that's impossible," Loki whispered.
Before falling into the abyss during his previous battle, he had personally destroyed the Bifrost bridge.
Asgard should no longer possess the ability to travel across space.
Yet the beam of cosmic light was unmistakable.
Loki's smug expression slowly darkened.
He had always believed that every element of his plan was under control.
Now things were changing.
"Damn it," he muttered. "Where did this go wrong?"
His mind raced with possibilities.
"Who arrived using the Bifrost?" he wondered aloud. "Thor?"
Before he could reach a conclusion, one of his subordinates rushed in with urgent news.
"Your Highness Loki, we have detected a concerning development in the solar system. An unidentified fleet has entered the region."
"What?"
Loki's first reaction was immediate.
Had Thanos lost faith in him?
Had the Chitauri fleet already been sent ahead to Earth?
But that idea quickly collapsed under basic logic.
The Chitauri forces were located countless light-years away. Without the Space Stone, there was no way they could travel such a distance so quickly.
Which meant only one thing.
It wasn't Thanos.
Loki frowned deeply.
That raised a much more troubling question.
Who else had their eyes on Earth?
"Damn it," Loki said irritably. "This is getting complicated."
For the first time since beginning his plan, the god of mischief realized that things were starting to slip beyond his control.
Every variable had to be reconsidered.
Every step of the plan might need to be rewritten.
Unfortunately for Loki, his calculations were missing a crucial piece of information.
He had no idea that the Kryptonian Empire had already risen again somewhere in the universe.
Nor did he know that the emperor of that empire had once been a human from Earth.
To make matters even more ironic, the woman currently standing beside that emperor was also from Earth.
Because of that same woman's betrayal, the Kree Empire had launched an enormous fleet toward the solar system.
However, the Kree did not attack immediately upon arrival.
Instead, their ships activated advanced cloaking systems and stationed themselves at the outer edge of the solar system. After studying Earth's technological capabilities, they confidently concluded that the planet had no means of detecting them.
With that assumption in mind, the Kree began their operation quietly.
Several stealth aircraft detached from the fleet and descended toward Earth's atmosphere.
"Before beginning the full planetary assault," the Kree commander ordered, "retrieve the products of our previous experiments."
"Inhumans."
"Capture them all."
Whoosh!
Invisible Kree aircraft sliced through Earth's atmosphere.
Using specialized genetic scanners, they began searching for the descendants of ancient Kree experiments scattered across the planet.
Ironically, the first ones to notice these stealth vessels were not humans.
It was the Kryptonians.
The lunar base established weeks earlier had already been monitoring the surrounding space. When the Kree ships approached Earth, the sensors detected them almost immediately.
Faora's emergency report reached Yun Chen through quantum communication.
Not long afterward, Yun Chen arrived.
With Carol at his side, he opened the Bifrost and traveled across the galaxy before finally stepping onto the surface of Earth.
Carol took a deep breath.
She opened her arms and inhaled the familiar air surrounding her.
Tears slowly filled her eyes.
"I'm back…"
Her voice trembled.
"I'm finally back."
"Earth… I've finally returned."
Carol Danvers fell to her knees as emotions overwhelmed her. The years of hardship, loneliness, and sacrifice flooded back into her mind all at once.
For nearly thirty years she had wandered across the universe, protecting this planet from distant threats.
For much of that time she had even lost her memory and unknowingly fought as a weapon for the Kree Empire.
The injustice and pain she endured were impossible to describe.
Now, standing on the soil of her home world again, she could no longer hold back her emotions.
Tears streamed down her face as she cried openly.
It had not been easy.
Yun Chen watched quietly.
When he first rescued Carol, his motivation had been rather simple. Conquering the heart of a powerful and beautiful cosmic warrior had certainly appealed to him.
But now, seeing her cry like this, he couldn't help feeling a trace of sympathy.
He stepped forward and gently pulled her into his arms.
"Don't worry," Yun Chen said softly.
"I'm here."
He spoke calmly, his voice steady.
"Remember what I told you? The Kree Empire will fall."
He looked toward the distant horizon.
"And the two of us will destroy them."
"For now, we'll start by crushing their plans."
Carol buried her face against his shoulder as Yun Chen held her quietly, allowing her to release the emotions she had carried for so many years.
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