The Kryptonian moved with incredible speed, and in an instant, he was in the heart of a city. He didn't initially target the humans directly, but the buildings he struck with his fists crumbled, killing countless innocent people. Yet, this level of destruction still didn't satisfy him. Though his speed and strength were immense, the range of his physical attacks was limited. He wanted to expand the scope of his devastation.
"Reagan can shoot lasers from his eyes. If he can do it, there's no reason I can't, even if I'm not as strong," the Kryptonian thought as he surveyed the half-destroyed city and the fleeing, screaming civilians. The noise from the people—both those fleeing and those injured—was giving him a headache. With this thought in mind, a beam of heat vision shot from his eyes, sweeping across everything in its path.
With a sizzling sound, buildings crumbled under the heat vision, and innocent civilians were instantly reduced to charred remains. The surrounding area fell eerily silent, only to be disrupted by the faint cries of the few survivors. The Kryptonian, displeased by the noise, vanished from his spot, reappearing elsewhere and unleashing more beams of heat vision, causing buildings and people to fall in droves.
Meanwhile, the Earth's governments were fully aware of the Kryptonian invasion. The scale of the incident was too massive to go unnoticed. However, no official agency dared to take action, precisely because the situation was so dire.
While the number of invading Kryptonians wasn't large, their power far exceeded any previous extraordinary event. In past incidents, having one or two powerful leaders was already a serious threat, but here, almost every Kryptonian was on par with those past leaders.
Faced with such formidable foes, the officials hesitated to act, fearing it would be nothing more than a suicide mission.
However, the display of the Kryptonians' power sparked interest among many officials and those with ulterior motives. They had noticed that Hancock and Mary shared some similarities in abilities with Superman, though there were differences. Supergirl, Kara, whose abilities were even more closely aligned with Superman's, seemed to be of the same race but had rarely intervened.
But now, it was different. These invading Kryptonians all seemed to possess abilities similar to Superman's, proving that this so-called "god among men" wasn't so mysterious after all. He was merely a member of a particular race. If given the opportunity, these officials were eager to capture and harness some of the Kryptonians' power for themselves.
Even if they couldn't immediately utilize this power, they saw this invasion as a chance to bring Superman down from his pedestal.
After all, if Superman's own people were invading Earth, what did that say about him? Wasn't it possible that Superman was merely a scout sent to Earth to deceive humans and gather intelligence to facilitate the Kryptonians' invasion? Otherwise, why hadn't Superman shown up to stop them yet, despite the destruction they were causing?
As a result, the officials were deeply wary of Superman. His increasing popularity, driven by the many lives he had saved, had raised his public image to unprecedented heights. After the Statue of Liberty was destroyed and rebuilt, there had even been suggestions to replace it with a statue of Superman.
Naturally, the government had rejected such an idea. They could never officially acknowledge Superman, let alone elevate him to god-like status. Despite this, grassroots movements had already begun, with some organizing efforts to build a large Superman statue and even create a Superman-themed park.
Thus, during this Kryptonian invasion, the officials saw a golden opportunity to undermine Superman's reputation. Many government agencies mobilized, not to save people or fight the Kryptonians, but to fish in troubled waters, hoping to gain some advantage or gather evidence to discredit Superman.
"Superman, Kryptonians... If we had a Super-Skrull here, we might stand to gain a lot. Too bad..." Nick Fury, in the S.H.I.E.L.D. director's office, muttered regretfully as he watched the blurry images on his screen, a plan forming in his mind.
"But Earth is getting too chaotic. The Avengers are struggling against these Kryptonians and are starting to lose ground. In a way, this is good. What do Earthlings' lives matter? The more that die, the better for us—it weakens the Avengers' reputation, which is our chance..."
As Fury was plotting, in one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s most secretive bases, the Tesseract suddenly began to glow, emitting a brilliant blue light that shot into the air and formed an unstable portal.
"What? What's happening?!" Professor Erik Selvig, who was studying the Tesseract, was stunned, staring in confusion at the portal that had suddenly opened. He had no idea what was going on.
S.H.I.E.L.D. had made little progress in their research on the Tesseract, originally believing it to be a powerful energy source. It wasn't until Lucifer's intervention that the various government agencies realized Earth was in serious danger, prompting them to reveal their hidden cards. Only then did S.H.I.E.L.D. tap into the true power of the Tesseract, which housed the Space Stone.
Since then, Erik had been studying the Tesseract with a new focus, but with limited success. He hadn't expected the Tesseract to suddenly activate, especially with many of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s top agents away dealing with other crises.
As he pondered the implications, several figures stepped through the portal, led by a man wearing a horned helmet and holding a staff with a glowing gem at its tip.
"Success! Earth! I'm back!" The man, none other than Loki, Thor's brother and former usurper of Asgard's throne, shouted in excitement as he stepped through the portal.
Loki had been on Earth before, attempting to establish New Asgard but had run into financial difficulties. His plans had been thwarted, and he was ultimately banished by Robert. After his defeat, he disappeared, his fate unknown.
Perhaps by fate or by Thanos' design, Loki had fallen into the hands of the Mad Titan and was now acting as his pawn. However, it seemed Loki wasn't the only one working for Thanos...
"Smack!" Just as Loki's triumphant shout echoed, a heavy blow struck his head, sending him flying and crashing to the ground, his staff slipping from his grasp.
"You fool! What are you doing?!" Loki yelled angrily as he picked himself up, glaring at the portal. "Do you know who I am? I'm the rightful heir to Asgard! The future king of Asgard!"
"Enough of your nonsense," a calm voice replied as five figures stepped through the portal, just as it closed. One of them, resembling a squid-like creature, shook his head and spoke with a hint of disdain. It was Ebony Maw, one of the Black Order, Thanos' elite warriors.
With the arrival of these powerful beings, it seemed calamity truly never came alone...
"How dare you speak to me like that?!" Loki snapped, drawing a small knife and charging at Ebony Maw.
But with a wave of his hand, Ebony Maw used his telekinesis to lift Loki's staff from the ground and then slam it back down, as if something had tried to grab it only to be swatted away.
The next moment, Loki's charge abruptly halted, and he found himself thrown against a wall, collapsing in a heap.
"Honestly, I've never respected you. I don't understand why the master favors you, but the truth is, you're just too weak," Ebony Maw sneered, looking at the crumpled Loki with disdain.
"You have some decent magical talent, yet all you've mastered are a few harmless illusions... No, not even illusions, just projections. You still rely on a little knife to fight, but with your pathetic skills, who could you possibly defeat?"
"You're of Frost Giant blood, yet you refuse to acknowledge it or harness its power. If you embraced your Frost Giant heritage, you'd at least be as strong as Black Dwarf," Ebony Maw continued, his voice dripping with scorn.
"Don't compare me to him!" Black Dwarf grumbled from the side. "How can you compare that little runt to me?"
"How dare you! I am the Prince of Asgard, the rightful heir to the throne! I am Loki, God of Lies and Mischief! I am not a Frost Giant!" Loki roared, standing up and glaring at Ebony Maw.
"Asgard was once great, but that old king who fought so many battles is now weak, and your would-be successor is said to be sealed away?" Corvus Glaive, another member of the Black Order, spoke with a shake of his head. "It seems Asgard is in decline. It won't be long before it falls."
"Sealed away? You mean Thor is sealed?" Loki asked, his anger giving way to confusion. "If you mean his powers being sealed, then yes..."
"Ha, a pathetic fool who knows nothing," Corvus Glaive chuckled disdainfully, then turned to Ebony Maw. "Enough tormenting him. He has his uses. At least he can tap into the power of some Infinity Stones. That's something, I suppose."
"Supergiant, scan the situation on Earth. If the Kryptonians aren't making much progress, see if you can get them to speed up their efforts to terraform the planet," Ebony Maw instructed, nodding in agreement. "If they change Earth's gravity, we can open a spatial wormhole and bring in the Chitauri army."
"I hear that the original guardian of this planet is no longer around, and the Time Stone is still here. Let's see if we can grab both the Time Stone and the Space Stone in one go."
"Understood," Supergiant replied, her
form vanishing into the ether.
"Who... who are you people?" Professor Erik Selvig stammered, his voice trembling as he stared at the Black Order. Behind him, the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were tense, fear evident in their eyes.
There weren't any top-tier S.H.I.E.L.D. agents present, and facing such a powerful group, they had little hope of survival.
"Oh! I forgot about all of you! How careless of me," Ebony Maw exclaimed with mock surprise, then smiled apologetically. "But unfortunately, you know too much now, so you all must die." With a casual wave of his hand, Ebony Maw sent the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents crashing into each other, their bodies crumpling lifelessly to the ground. In mere moments, the entire group was dead.
At the same time, General Zod, who was locked in battle with Diana, felt increasing pressure. He glanced over at the distant Kryptonian, who was wreaking havoc, but noticed that the destruction wasn't as extensive as he had hoped. Moreover, Diana's expression remained mostly unchanged, indicating that she wasn't overly troubled by what was happening.
This lack of significant progress frustrated Zod. However, as the fight dragged on, Johnny Storm began to falter. Realizing that his strength was insufficient to continue battling the Kryptonian for much longer, Johnny decided to make a final, desperate move.
He knew that Carter Hall, Susan Storm, and Lorna had already been defeated. If he didn't manage to inflict some serious damage on the Kryptonian soon, the freed Kryptonians would wreak even more havoc.
With a deep, determined breath, Johnny's flames began to condense, darken, and shrink. As the fire intensified, it reached its peak, emitting a blinding light that rivaled Robert's Solar Flare in intensity. Johnny was putting everything he had into this final attack, hoping to turn the tide of battle.
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