15 Chapter 15 – The Marvellous 90's (1)
(Asgard – Royal Palace – 1989)
Kal was on duty as he often was these days, he was currently guarding the Weapon's Vault hovering above the structure that held some of the most dangerous items in existence. In truth, the Vault was well protected and did not need Kal, but he had long ago volunteered to guard the Vault, mostly for the solitude that it brought.
Since the events of Midgard Kal often found himself wanting quiet moments of solitude, not all the time but on occasion, he just wanted to be alone for a little while.
As a result of Midgard, he had also thrown himself into his duties and responsibilities, becoming to many the very model of a Prince of Asgard. He attended every meeting he was supposed to, appeared at every event that required his presence and went without question anywhere his father sent him. For the past thousand years whilst Thor had been the champion of Asgard, Kal had become his father's right hand.
A fact that did not go unnoticed, especially by his father's court who quietly whispered about their princes when they thought no one was listening. Kal cared not for the quiet whispers and did not like the comparison's others were making between him and his brothers, mainly when they talked about succession.
His actions had garnered him many admirers at court and whilst some found him stoic and reserved at times, all would admit that he was more responsible than Thor and Loki.
The two elder princes whilst loved by the people left much to be desired by the court and aristocracy.
Thor was charming, a born warrior, beloved by the common people and warriors of Asgard for his easy-going nature, victories he had won, and there was not a person on Asgard that did not respect Thor's strength. He was just not the most reasonable man, whilst Thor was not inattentive in his duties, the past thousand years had turned Thor even more rash and headstrong with many finding the Crown prince a little too hotblooded for their liking.
Whilst Loki had done little to improve his reputation in the past Millennium. Kal greatly loved Loki as he was one of the few people that could make him laugh but Loki was also vindictive, condescending and deceitful. Kal could excuse the odd prank, but Loki was a constant source of headaches and Kal found a lot of his duties were following his brother around cleaning up Loki's messes. Said messes were usually loud, very disruptive and the reason hardly anyone at court, except his family, could stand Loki.
All of which left Kal in the unamiable position of being liked and respected more by the court than either of his brothers. Whilst Kal could not care less about the court's opinion of him, it did at times create tensions between the brothers which none of them ever really acknowledged.
"My Prince." Kal's ponderings were cut off by the sound of a guard that entered int the weapons vault.
"Yes?" Kal responded lowering himself so that he was hovering just above the ground in front of the guard.
"Your father has summoned you." The guard gave a graceful bow.
Kal merely nodded and floated past the guard landing at the top of the stairs striding through the vault's great doors. As he walked through the corridors of the Palace, he gave nods of his head to everyone that he passed, all of whom gave him deep respectful bows, he also fixed a polite smile on his face.
It did not take him long to reach his father who was currently in the Throne room, however, Odin was not sat upon Hlidskjalf instead his father was standing around a small table surrounded by a small group of advisors, including his mother. Curiously Kal noted that neither Thor nor Loki was present, the group consisted only of his father's closest advisors all of whom were taking in hushed tones, instead of the usual yelling they resorted to.
"Father, you summoned me?" Kal question was more to announce his presence than actually question his father.
"Yes, my son, come here." Odin gestured with his hand.
Kal did as he was bid, moving swiftly over to the table that he could see now was projecting an image of a crash site in a valley he was not familiar with. The crashed ship was a strange configuration and was not one that he recognised, nor could understand the strange energy readings that the projection was also displaying.
"When were you last on Midgard?" Odin asked his son; his voice was quiet and his eyes transfixed on the projection.
At the mention of Midgard Kal's mind suddenly conjured up unpleasant images that he quickly cast aside not wanting to dwell on those memories. Despite disliking Midgard for the memories, it brought up and avoiding it as much as could he, Kal had returned to the planet in the centuries following Lakstad although he never lingered long.
His mind filtered through all of his memories at near the speed of light until he reached the most recent memory, he had of Midgard, which caused him to groan. It was when he had to clean up one of Loki's messes, that had been caused when Loki had lost a bet to Thor.
Loki had hijacked a plane, he believed they called it and stolen a great deal of Midgardian money, he had called himself something stupid D. B Copper? Cobbler? Something like that, it had taken Kal a week on Midgard to make sure no one had realised what had really happened, thankfully the Midgardians just assumed it was an ordinary crime.
"About two decades ago," Kal stated quickly, not wanting to go into details as he had never actually told his parents about Loki's actions.
Odin great eye lingered on Kal for a moment who just gave his best friendly smile and tried not to look his father in his eye. An action that Odin did not miss and squinted at Kal trying to discern what his son was hiding.
"Hmmm. Very well, I need you to go to Midgard and investigate this crash site." Odin gestured to the image before, deciding not to press for details for the moment.
"How long ago did this occur? And what am I looking for when I get there?" Kal asked, whilst he personally did not understand why the crash site would be so interesting, he had learnt the hard way to trust his father's judgement.
"It happened yesterday, and you are looking for the source of this energy signal." His mother was the one to reply indicating the strange readings the projection was showing. "Also anything else that should not be on Midgard."
"Okay, do you want to get Thor and Loki?" Kal asked wanting to confirm his suspicion as to why his brothers were not present.
"No, you will be going alone and not taking the Bifrost. We need this done quietly and your brother are not exactly subtle." Odin stated his voice calm and level as he turned his attention to Kal.
Kal nodded, a little surprised at his father's blunt yet honest statement, Thor was never one for subtly and Loki whilst he acted mysteriously often caused a lot of noise whenever he did anything.
"If I am not taking the Bifrost, how will I reach Midgard?" Kal asked hoping the answer was not what he was dreading.
"Dark Magic" Odin bluntly replied, causing Kal to internally groan, he really hated magic.
"I will see to that my son, as well you're clothing." Frigga gave her son a smile, which Kal appreciated but still felt dread at the use of Dark Magic.
(Midgard – North America – California – 1989)
Kal's arrival on Midgard was uncomfortable.
Whilst travelling via the Bifrost was a harmonious blend of awe-inspiring sights and a feeling of euphoria, travel via the use of Dark Magic was unpleasant, to say the least. Dark Magic transportation was physically draining, very uncomfortable and one felt as if they were hurtling through a shattering mirror whilst riding a boat that was sinking in tumultuous waters.
However, Kal true discomfort was the garments his mother had dressed him in, he was very uncomfortable in the restrictive Midgardian clothes. He was dressed in a plain white shirt, with a blue tie and blue a three-piece suit his mother had called it, which consisted of a jacket of sorts which was an item of very restrictive clothing that rode up whenever he lifted his arms.
He was also wearing a pair of black-rimmed spectacles which his mother had enchanted, she said was to hide his features and make him more unnoticeable when combined with the clothes. Kal straightened out the ridiculous garments and picked up Gram which was disguised as something the Midgardians called an umbrella.
He began his walk towards the crash site, which was only a little while away, he could have flown there in a second but did not want to risk altering anyone to presence. As he crested the ridge he saw the crash site, the mortals of Midgard were already present, having set a premiere and a sea of men dressed like him along with others in green uniforms were inspecting the wreckage.
Kal focused forcing the world to slow down to an incalculable crawl, he looked around and saw that everything had become still, the mortals below him were now statues, the wind was still and he could even see the rays of sunlight halting in the sky. Stratified Kal moved cautiously as he went, knowing full well the damage he could do with even the slight miss-step at the speeds he was going at, Midgard was a very fragile world.
He surveyed the area as he went, whilst everything seemed consistent with a simple crash there were inconsistencies, that only Kal with his sight could see. The scene was almost too perfect and on closer inspection, he could tell someone had been here before the Midgardians, someone who had altered certain details to cover up their presence.
Despite that detail, there was little there to interest him, the area was nearly entirely destroyed as a result of the crash and he could not pick up any signs of the strange energy readings he had been sent to investigate. Kal eventually reached the main body of the aircraft or what was left of it, it was mostly obliterated by an explosion originating in what he guessed had been the engine core.
Kal knelt down and allowed time to resume its normal pace so that he could pick up the pieces for closer inspection without damaging them. He was immediately greeted by the noise of the mortals around him, none had noticed him suddenly appearing and him in his current garments they must have believed he was one of them.
The item that piqued his interest was a small calendar device it appeared to be the remains of a small intake valve, by itself it was not wholly interesting being clearly made from Midgardian materials however it was the design that Kal was concerned about, it was Kree. Kal examined another piece of the wreckage of the engine, although badly burned it was the same again, Midgardian materials yet clearly Kree design.
Although as he examined more pieces, he could see that the Kree design was modified, it seemed to be a combination of Kree, Midgardian design and something else that he could not recognise. Leaving the pieces where he found them Kal, started scanning the area for signs of Kree, it didn't take him long although there wasn't much left he could see finite traces of Kree blood and traces of a polymer used in Kree technology.
"Excuse me who are you?" The voice came from one of the few women in the sea of men.
Kal observed her she was a slender brunette with the tips of her hair dyed red, she carried herself like a professional and her attitude was nonsense. She had her hands on her hips and it was clear from her posture she was used to being obeyed without question.
"I am here to inspect the wreckage, ma'am." Kal readjusted the glasses he was wearing and tried to sound respectful.
The woman's eyes focused on him for a few moments, scrutinising every inch of his appearance and it was clear she knew something was off about him. However, before she could react another agent approached from her side, getting her attention.
"Agent Hand, we need you to sign these requisition orders, so that we can start moving the craft." The other shield agent approached her displaying a clipboard and several dozen pieces of paper.
"In a second, now wh-" Agent Hand turned back to the man she had been questioning only to find him gone.
She whirled around and scanned the area trying to locate him in the sea of faces but could spot nothing out of the ordinary.
"Agent Hand?" The other agent was looking at her with concern as she kept turning her head scanning the area.
"Seal the area, double-check everyone's ID's now and I want a full inventory of every piece of this aircraft now." Agent Hand turned abruptly on her heels and strode straight to the command tent.
Unfortunately for Agent Hand Kal was already away by the time she had blinked let alone ordered a lockdown of the crash site. He had returned to the infinitely slow world he could enter to disappear whilst the woman had turned away briefly, he was impressed that she had noticed him at all given his mother's enchantment, Midgardians were more observant than he remembered.
Once he was away Kal spent a few more hours quietly observing the crash site and surrounding area from a distance but could discern nothing more than possible Kree involvement, whatever had created the energy disturbance was long gone.
Kal braced himself and signalled for his mother to return him to Asgard, with him already cursing as the Dark Magic overcame him.
With his return to Asgard Kal delivered what information he had found, which whilst troubling was hardly conclusive. Nothing he had found had proven anything other than that a Kree might have been on Midgard, but nothing definitive.
"So, you found nothing to explain the energy readings?" Odin asked whilst he stroked his chin after listening to Kal's report.
"Nothing, I believe it came from the engine of the craft but that has been destroyed so nothing remains," Kal admitted giving a slight shrug and sigh in defeat.
"You believe the Kree were involved?" This time it was his mother who asked the question.
"Possibly, it is hard to tell there might have been a Kree, and I believe there were, but it is possible the Midgardians might have just found a Kree craft and tried to recreate it, the crash just being a result of them not understanding the technology. However, it is clear someone was there before the Midgardians showed up." Kal gave his opinion honestly something his parents appreciated.
"Very well, I shall send an ambassador to the Kree to remind them of our treaties. We shall also keep a closer watch on Midgard." Odin commanded, a look of resolve appearing in his eyes.
Kal nodded and when his father clearly had no further need of him, he departed the throne room swiftly, heading to his room.
"Interesting meeting, what could you and father be whispering about so intensely?" Loki asked he was currently leaning against a statue at the side of the corridor Kal was walking down.
"Brother, I thought snooping was beyond you." Kal quipped with a smile, that Loki returned.
"Not snooping, just curious is all. Thor was looking for you, went to spar and I found it interesting that no one knew where you were." Loki grinned his eyes glinting with a devious intent Kal knew well.
Kal just sighed and shook his head at Loki's loaded statement.
"No great conspiracy brother just doing an errand for father was all." Kal waved off Loki's suspicions.
"Errands? Indeed." Loki just looked at his brother with curiosity but when Kal's smile did not falter he shrugged. "Oh well, sounds tedious I wish you luck with them, want to grab a drink?"
"Loki it's noon." Kal chuckled at his brother, Loki was ever the hedonist.
"I know it's why I am only suggesting drinks. We can get some companions after dinner." Loki grinned as he wrapped an arm around his much taller younger brother.
Kal just chuckled and let Loki drag him off to have some much-needed fun, needing to clear the memories that a trip to Midgard always brought up.
(Asgard – Royal Palace – 1995)
Six years had passed since Kal's covert trip to Midgard and in that time little had changed. His father had ordered a closer watch on Midgard, but Heimdall's great sight had seen nothing requiring intervention, and his father's envoy to the Kree made little headway.
The Kree had merely denied any involvement, claiming ignorance of anything happening on Midgard and without direct proof to the contrary there was little Asgard could do. So, the incident merely became another dispute between the two peoples that added to the long-standing tensions between the two people.
Kal for his part had just merely carried on with his duties as before and largely put the incident out of his mind. He was currently overseeing the training of the Einherjar and was joined by Sif who was finishing up showing several raw recruits basic drills.
"They are not bad, defiantly improving," Kal commented giving Sif a supportive nod, as she returned to his side.
"Well, when you start out as completely useless there is nothing but room for improvement." She stated bluntly gesturing at the boys she had been training.
Kal chuckled at Sif's harsh words, despite her cold demeanour Kal knew she cared and was a very warm person once you got past the many, many layers she hid behind. Looking at her however always made Kal a little sad, he remembered when she was much warmer and laughed more freely, he didn't think he had heard Sif laugh since Haldor had died.
Haldor there was a name Kal had not thought of in a long time, his closest and perhaps his greatest friend, Sif's first love and the man he could always rely on. Kal gently pushed those thoughts away, Haldor was gone now and whilst he enjoyed the memories of his friendship, he was not overly fond of remembering what immediately followed them.
"Your Highness, the King has summoned you to an emergency meeting." The voice belonged to a servant who had scrambled into the trainyard, giving a clumsy bow as he arrived.
Kal turned to face Sif who simply gave a sharp nod and bluntly said "GO"
Not waiting to be asked twice Kal exploded off the ground and flew through the air to the Throne room, the only place his father ever held emergency meetings. His swift arrival caused a brief torrent of air to blow through the room forcing his father to quickly place a hand on the stack of papers on the table and his mother to re-correct her hair.
"I wish you would not do that." Odin chuckled at his son's sudden arrival.
"Sorry, I was told it was an emergency." Kal looked ruefully at his father, apologising for the mess he almost always made when entering a room at speed.
"It is, a Skrull ship has crashed on Midgard, and we have detected a Kree signal, although we could not tell who it was from," Frigga spoke in her usual commanding tone.
She waved her hand and a projection of an area of Midgard appeared, it was the landmass that he had previously visited, called North America.
"What do you wish me to do? Take a company of Einherjar, track down the Skrulls and the Kree that sent the message." Kal turned to his parents, seeking instructions.
"No, we are not there yet. I want you to go to Midgard, find the Kree and Skrulls, discover why they have violated the sovereignty of the Nine Realms and then bring them here." Odin commanded striking Gungnir for effect.
"Whilst you do that, I will be heading to Hala to speak to the Kree directly." Frigga's voice was calm yet the glint in her eye conveyed her displeasure, Kal actually felt sorry for the Kree that had to deal with his mother.
"Where should I begin my search?" Kal asked looking at the vast continent that was being displayed.
"Here in this region, the Midgardians call Cal-i-fornia. We do not wish the Midgardians to interfere, so we require discretion. DO not let them know you are here, do this quietly my son." Odin gave Kal a proud smile.
"I will leave at once before the trail can go cold. I will contact you when I have the interlopers." Kal gave a quick bow and started his departure for Midgard.
A subtle glow shimmered over Kal as his royal armour was replaced by the Midgardian garbs, he had worn previously, Gram transforming once more into an umbrella he held tightly at his side. He was about to make a swift departure when a voice he was greatly familiar with stopped him in his tracks.
"Kal! Brother, what are you wearing?" Thor's voice was boisterous as ever as he came bounding down the corridor towards his little brother.
"Father is sending me to Midgard, I wish I could explain but I do not have the time. Sorry, brother" Kal offered the apology, with a pat on Thor's shoulder as tried to walk past his elder brother.
Kal however did not get far as Thor's hand suddenly on his shoulder and pulled Kal back around, Thor's usual jovial expression cracking as a look of concern replaced it.
"This is the first I am hearing of it. What is going on?" Thor stared at his brother, his eyes squinting slightly.
"A situation has occurred with Skrulls and Kree on Midgard, mother is going to Hala, and I am going to Midgard. Now, please I am sorry, but I really must go." Kal tried to gently pry Thor's hand off him, but Thor's grip stayed tight.
"I should have been told, I am the Crown Prince and Champion of Asgard." Thor's voice although calm sounded arrogant and prideful.
Both of which Kal was familiar with coming from Thor and usually would be able to handle delicately but he was pressed for time and in no mood to soothe, his elder brothers ruffled feathers. He indelicately knocked away Thor's hand and turned to leave.
"Thor, talk to father I need to go." Kal sighed, however as he made his leave Thor's hand gripped his elbow.
"WAIT, It is my duty to defend the realms, let me talk to father then we go together," Thor spoke harshly and his voice would have sounded commanding if his request wasn't so petty.
"Thor let go, talk to father if you want but I have to go" Kal was trying his best to keep himself calm, which was difficult when dealing with Thor's wounded pride.
"Careful little brother, I am the Crown Prince and Champion of Asgar-" Thor's patience was fast diminishing as his great pride felt slighted.
"THEN ACT LIKE IT." Kal pulled his arm easily from his brother's grip, his own patience snapping.
"Excuse me?" Thor was in shock at his little brother's harsh words.
He and Kal had started to butt heads more often in the past few centuries, largely as a result of their father seemingly favouring Kal for every task he required to attend to, whilst Thor despite being the elder was only sent on simple errands or given boring administrative duties on Asgard. However, Kal had never snapped at him like that, his little brother was sometimes sullen and liked to be alone but Kal had never been abrasive with him.
"Thor, I love you, but Allfather's help me, I do NOT care about your pride, we can talk about this when I get back, but go sulk to father if you must. I have duties to tend to, just like you SHOULD be." Kal's voice was harsh, and his breaths laboured as he tried to keep calm.
Kal whirled around and left not waiting for Thor's response as he quickly departed towards the Bifrost not wishing to waste more time when their actual matters to attend to over Thor's wounded pride.
(Midgard – North America – California – 1995)
Kal was always amazed about the changes that occurred on Midgard especially in such short periods of time, as he observed the urban metropolis the Mortals had built.
In truth, he had seen truly little of Midgard since his time in Lakstad and his last visit was confined to the crash site, the last time he had truly visited Midgard they were still using horses and wooden boats, so he was a bit overwhelmed. Mostly by the sheer noise, amount of people and filth which was a modern Midgardian society, everything was dirty, and they seemed to be polluting the atmosphere without care.
Everywhere he turned there were Midgardians, and everywhere they were there was some form of trading going on, street vendors trying to sell things or large buildings packed with rooms selling things to people.
Kal crossed the street to a wide tarmacked area that had a number of small shops around its perimeter as well as a theatre of some sort, the area was off cordoned off by a strange tape demanding no one cross it. Kal gently waved his hand over it and finding no spell or technology simply pushed past the strange tape barrier, Midgardians are strange.
What interested him was a building that had a hole in the roof. The sign above the damaged store read Blockbuster Video.
Kal scanned the arena with the sense to pick up a trail, there were few traces left yet he could still detect Kree polymers and high energy ionic discharge, clearly from a weapon that the Midgardians could not yet produce. There was tape around the front of the store, same as the one he pushed passed and he could tell that the area had already been cleaned likely by the Midgardians.
"Hey! You get can't be around here the shopping plaza is currently closed" Kal turned to look at the man that was stepping out of a metal vehicle.
He was wearing a uniform that said security officer on a patch on his shoulder, he also seemed to be overweight and very unhealthy for a man tasked with the protection of others.
"I am seeking the person who did this?" Kal turned to face the man whilst pointing at the damaged store.
"Buddy look, I have a long and crazy day, so please can you just leave, before I remove you." The man moved forward and placed his hand on a very small weapon at his side.
"I mean you no harm, please I am just seeking the person who caused this damage." Kal lifted his right hand to show he was no threat, his left holding the disguised Gram.
"Okay pal, you need to start walking. HEY," The man approached Kal and placed a hand on him, which when Kal with his right hand lift the man up by his shirt.
"Please, just tell me who did this and where they went. Then I shall leave." Kal tried to sound friendly, which was slightly defeated by him holding a 200-pound man up like it was nothing.
"Okay JESUS! It was some chick, wearing a Laser Tag outfit, I don't know where she went, she ran off when the government suits showed up and the shooting started." The man panicked, internally thinking he needed to get another job.
"Chick? The individual was a chicken." Kal asked confused, the Midgardian was talking nonsense.
"No, chick as in a girl, a woman. Please can you put me down?" The man's voice was going high and swallowed.
"This woman, describe her and who was shooting at her?" Kal lowered the man slightly but still did not let go.
"I don't know who shot at her, I hit the deck when that happened. Um, she's blonde, like 5'7, wearing a weird leather suit with a star on its front, uh she was kind of hot." The security guard cringed at his poor description.
"The woman she was blue, yes?" Kal asked, hoping to confirm his suspicion, the Star sounded like a Kree uniform.
"Uh no, white uh Caucasian." The guard responded more than a little confused by the question.
"Did she identify herself? Kal sighed in frustration, clearly, the Kree was masking herself, it was why he couldn't pick up any fully Kree scents, just a strange mixture of human and Kree.
"Uh she said her name was Vers, Kree or Kai Star force something like that." The guard stated quickly hoping to get Kal off him.
"Thank you, you have been most helpful." Kal gently placed the man back on the floor and sorted out the man's uniform before he abruptly turned and left, leaving the guard confused. Who instead of sticking around promptly got into his vehicle and left.
Kal was busy thinking, he headed over to where there were clear signs of an energy weapon had been fired, a small crater had been blasted into the side of the roof and leapt up to the roof of the building to examine the area more closely.
'A Kree Starforce agent was on Midgard, disguised as a mortal woman, Midgardians forces had arrived to investigate. Then someone, likely a Skrull had attacked her and the two had fled, but where?' Kal's mind raced as he put together the limited information, he had available to him.
Despite what many believed Kal could not just instantly find someone with his abilities he needed to know what to look for and even then, it would take time to search all of Midgard time he really did not want to waste.
Suddenly Kal spotted something from his place on the roof, it was a communication device clearly native, but it had been tampered with. He descended back down to the ground level and examined the device, it had been modified to interact with a Kree communication device, it was a patch job but still impressive.
Kal examined the device closely, taking it apart and he quickly found what he was looking for, it was the transmission frequency the device was tuned to. Which to many people without advanced tracking devices would not be very helpful but to Kal's hearing, it was as good as a beacon in the night.
He quickly looked around and seeing no one around to observe him took to the skies, gaining altitude faster than anything else on Midgard. He levelled off once he was high enough that he could see nearly the whole continent below him, and he started to listen. A communication device even not transmitting still gave off a small resonant frequency that Kal could track.
The flood of noise hit him in waves as he searched through the near-infinite noise of Midgard for the frequency that would lead him to the Kree interloper. It took him longer than he wished but then he suddenly heard the soft steady repeating hum he was looking for, opening his eyes he shot off.
It was coming from a dwelling near a large settlement located next to a large river on the North American continent, Kal hoped he could get there before the Kree could do any harm to the peoples of Midgard.
(Earth - Planet C-53 - Rambeau Residence- New Orleans, Louisiana)
Carol Danvers was having a difficult day, scratch that she was having an impossible day.
She was not sure what was causing her more difficulty the fact that she had discovered everything she thought was true was a lie or that the people she trusted to have her back were just using her or maybe it was the not so little problem that she had basically been participating in genocide.
There was a naïve part of her that wanted to disregard everything the Skrull General Talos had told them, to instead go back to believing everything she now knew to be true was a lie that Skrulls were still the bad guys and this was all an elaborate deception, but that was not who she was and she wouldn't be caught on the wrong side again.
This had led to their present circumstance after having processed everything that had happened, she, Nick Fury, Maria Rambeau, her daughter and the Skrulls where sat around the dining room table as Talos asked for her help.
"If only you knew the importance of it to me. I just need your help decoding the coordinates to Mar-Vell's Lab." Talos' voice was quiet and he almost sounded like he was pleading.
"Those weren't coordinates. They're state vectors." Carol answered kindly.
"For orbital position and velocity…" Fury clarified however he began to trail off as he heard what sounded like a clap of thunder above them.
"It's not the season for thunder." Maria too looked out the window it was night and there was hardly a cloud in sight.
Three sharp knocks rang out as everyone's attention turned to the front door, Carol placing herself in front of the young Monica, whilst Fury's hand went to his side piece and Talos backed up slightly rising from his seat.
"You expecting company?" Fury turned to Monica who just shook her head, he then turned to Talos who also just shook his head, causing Fury to grimace and Carol to ready herself.
However, instead of an attack, three more sharp knocks rang out as whoever was at the door again tried to get their attention. Causing Carol to turn to Fury and she quietly pointed to herself then the door, earning a nod from Fury who now withdrew his weapon.
Carol moved slowly to the door, whoever was at the door knocked again this time louder, the door shook slightly this time as the person was clearly becoming impatient. Just as she had done last time she opened the door carefully, ready to spring into action.
She was greeted by a very unexpected sight, it was a man wearing a blue suit, black-rimmed glasses, and was carrying an umbrella. Despite his non-threatening attire, Carol was still wary knowing looks could be deceiving which combined with the fact that she had to tilt her head back to look at the man's face, he towered over her and no clothing amount of clothing in the world could hide the man's musculature.
"Greetings, I am looking for a Vers?" The man spoke politely but his accent was weird clearly not American, it sounded almost European but not quite, he had a disarming and charming smile.
"What do you want with her?" Carrol asked and she felt she had made a mistake somehow as the man suddenly squinted at her.
He looked her up and down quickly as if he was scanning her like a machine Carol felt very uncomfortable and was about to respond when the man's hand was suddenly around her throat. He lifted her up off the floor with ease and Carol immediately started having trouble breathing.
"Your presence here Kree is a violation of the sovereignty of the Nine Realms, and you WILL tell me what you are doing on this planet." The man demanded, his hand tightening on her throat.
The Man's voice had gone harsh his friendly smile was replaced by a snarl that conveyed disgust and almost hatred, especially as he spat out the world Kree like it left a bad taste in his mouth.
Carol's brain went into override mode as adrenaline flooded her system, her mind focusing on the sole aspect to protect Maria, Monica and the others, she needed to get free, but the man's grip and focus were so tight she dare not raise her arms in case he just snapped her neck.
"AUNTIE CAROL!" Monica's voice rang out behind her, her mother Maria quickly running in to grab her after she had gotten loose.
The man's focus shifted towards Monica his expression becoming puzzled either at the arrival of a child or her calling Auntie Carol possibly both. His brief shift in focus caused his grip to slacken and allowed Carol the opening she needed, raising her hand she left off the most powerful Photon Blast she could, causing the Photon Inhibitor on her neck to flare up and keep her power level under control.
The man went flying causing her to slump to the floor as he was forced to release her, she raised her head and watched as he travelled nearly the entire distance of the driveway before crashing, creating a crater in the earth. He had dropped his umbrella that instead of flying off, went directly to the floor making a strange metallic sound like a sword digging into the wood, and stay perfectly upright digging into the ground next to her.
She breathed a sigh of relief and started to get back up but paused for a second as a blur of motion happened out of the crater, a brief look of confusion was on her face before she too was flying.
Carol crashed onto her back, the man having reappeared in the doorway and thrown her out of the house into the front yard, before she could register what was happening, she felt an immense pressure on her chest. The man had placed one knee on her, pinning her to the ground and proceeded to grab her hair with his left-hand whilst making a fist with his right, raising her head slightly he proceeded to slam his fist into her face repeatedly.
Her vision of the world became one of bright blindingly light followed by a blur that created pain, as her attacker started to pummel her senseless, his fist striking her so fast that she could not truly register the time between blows.
Carol was starting to blackout which she knew she could not afford the man had attacked her she had no idea what he would do to the others. Using her remaining focus before she went unconscious she managed to place her fist on his stomach and blast him upwards with another massive blast, sending into the heavens like a rocket.
She smiled as she watched him spin in the air as he kept going up, but her smile disappeared as the man suddenly stopped in the air and started hovering in the air.
"Huh, that's new" She stated tilting her head slightly in genuine curiosity at her now flying attacker.
Whilst now several hundred plus meters above her Kal corrected himself in the air to face back towards the ground.
"Ow, so that's new." Kal looked down in genuine curiosity at the white-skinned Kree he was fighting.
The strange energy blasts she was hitting him with felt like high-density photons, which mays have been a problem but there was not enough power to truly hurt him, knocking off balance when surprised yes, but hurt him no. What was concerning though is that he hadn't seen a weapon when he had scanned her and still couldn't see one. She was also more durable than she should have been, a single one of his punches could have knocked out a full-fledged Accuser, but they had hardly hurt her.
Kal needed to end the fight fast, the Kree's presence at this Mortal's dwelling was dangerous and once she was subdued, he would see what harm she had done to these Midgardians. Kal leant back and then soared towards the ground, his punch however missed as the Kree woman blasted herself out of the way, using her photon blasts to skid out of the crater they had made.
However, Carol's reprieve was short-lived, as Kal again seemingly appeared in her path he grabbed her mid-flight and throw her across the front yard crashing through several trees, towards Monica's garage. Just before she struck it, Kal again appeared in her path and pain exploded in her chest as Kal punched her into the floor, shattering the earth as she struck.
Kal was reeling up for another punch when he felt small metal objects striking him which were accompanied by loud bangs, turning he saw a Midgardian male firing at him with a weapon.
Fury ever the marksmen was unloading every single round he had into the assailant's head however frustratingly it was having no impact and didn't even seem to be bothering Carol's would-be attacker. As he heard the familiar click signalling the gun was now empty, he reached for another magazine but never retrieved it as Kal with blinding speed ripped the gun from his hand and tossed it away.
"This is not your concern, whatever this woman has told you she is -" Kal was cut off as he again knocked back.
This time however he turned at the last second and had crossed his arms in front of his face, Carol's blast hitting his raised arms. She continued her assault and whilst Kal was not being damaged he was skidding backwards, the force of her blast just enough to move him as he was now prepared for, she was forced to relent when her Photon Inhibitor cut her off.
The two titans stood a fair distance apart, the house to one side of them.
Carol lifted her hands, she was still in good condition Kal's assaults had winded her but didn't seem to be making a mark, challenging whatever power she could preparing to unleash hell on her attacker.
Kal for his part was getting frustrated, his father wanted the Kree alive to question but Kal was struggling to subdue her. Whilst she was more powerful than an ordinary Kree, he was still certain he could beat her he just didn't know how much strength to use and with Midgardians around he didn't want to go full-on in case he levelled the surrounding area.
Kal's eyes began glowing red deciding that if Physical strikes would not work maybe his heat vision would and he could cut off a limp to immobilise her.
"Auntie Carol!" Monica appeared pushing through the doorway, her mother right behind her lifting her up to drag her back inside.
Carol was about to move towards them to protect them from the man attacking her, but before she could the man was suddenly in front of them, his body positioned to place him directly between Carol and them. His whole body posture and positioning told Carol one thing he was actively trying to protect them from her.
"Take the child inside!" Kal commanded his eyes still glowing at Carol.
"Wait!" Carol raised her hands cancelling the blast she had been generating hoping to defuse the situation.
"Careful Kree, I will not allow you to harm these people, they are under my protection." Kal's voice was hard and full of righteous fury as he squared himself to attack.
"I am not a Kree, and I am not harming these people. My name is Carol Danvers, I am human, and I am trying to save lives." Carol spoke softly as not to sound threatening, and kept her hands raised.
Kal said nothing his eyes glowing, his face and body language told Carol clearly he did not believe her, believing it to be some kind of trick. His knuckles cracked as he created a fist and was ready to strike again when suddenly Talos walked through the door in his natural Skrull form.
"She is telling the truth. I am -" Talos had his hand outstretched as not to seem threatening.
"General Talos, I know who you are, this woman is a Kree Starforce operative, likely here to kill you, whatever she has told you is a lie." Kal turned his head to face Talos but did not move from his spot.
"She's not! Auntie Carol is helping him!" Monica screamed trying to tear away from her mother's grasp.
Monica's plea caused Kal to turn and look at her, his vision detected no deceit and as he turned to face Carol, she was still stood there her hands raised, not using the obvious distraction to attack as a Kree would. Doubt crept into his mind, his scan of her had shown her Kree DNA but it was mixed with Midgardian DNA and her strange powers were certainly not Kree.
"If you stand down, we explain everything." Talos offered.
Kal slowly uncurled his fist and stepped back from Monica, Maria and Talos, he was still tense but he was clearly willing to listen now.
"Good, see where all friends here." Talos lowered his hands and nodded at everyone.
"Who are you? You're not with the Kree." Carol questioned, lowering her own hands.
Kal turned to her his eyes examining her for a second before he breathed out a deep breath trying to calm himself down after the fight.
"I am not with the Kree. My name is Kal Odinson, Prince of Asgard, a Protector of the Nine Realms and I really need an explanation, as your presence here threatens to unleash war." Kal spoke bluntly his voice still hard.
His statement caused the area to go quiet, for Talos and Carol out of shock at who had arrived, for everyone else it was because they had no clue as to what Kal's statement meant. After several awkward moments of silence, Maria finally spoke.
"I'm going to make coffee"
