Alex immediately retracted his heat vision. Without even glancing at the Kree corpses scattered across the ground, he walked straight over to Carol Danvers.
"Alex…"
Carol naturally recognized him.
After all, Alex was now a household name. Whether mutant or not, few people didn't know him. Across the entire United States, Alex had amassed countless supporters, admirers, and even fan clubs.
He wasn't just a mutant leader—he was the man who had led the charge against the Decepticons and saved the Earth from annihilation.
"You're badly injured. Don't talk," Alex said firmly, his voice calm yet reassuring.
He nodded once at Carol, then bent down and lifted her carefully into his arms.
"Dan… Danny…"
Carol's trembling hand weakly pointed toward her fallen comrade.
Alex's expression softened. "I'm sorry. He's already gone."
Carol's lips quivered, but no sound came out. The grief in her eyes was drowned out by the overwhelming pain.
Without wasting another second, Alex wrapped Carol in a sheath of telekinetic energy. Whoosh! His figure shot into the sky like a missile, vanishing from the battlefield in an instant.
---
The next moment, Alex landed heavily inside the mutant base.
"Selene, get Ike over here!" he barked, his voice echoing through the hallways as he strode directly toward the infirmary.
Ike Diamond—mutant healer, one of Alex's most reliable assets. As long as someone wasn't already dead, Ike could drag them back from the brink.
A moment later, the infirmary staff rushed forward.
"Director!"
"Let us take her!"
They carefully received Carol from Alex's arms and sprinted her into a treatment room.
"Ike!"
The call spread quickly. In under a minute, Ike burst through the doors, slightly breathless but alert.
"Alex! What's going on? Who's hurt?"
Behind him came Raven, Hank, and several senior mutants. The urgency in Alex's voice had drawn them all.
The sight of Carol, pale and bloodstained, being wheeled away only deepened the tension.
Alex exhaled, his gaze sweeping across the faces of his comrades. "It's Carol Danvers."
The room fell silent for a moment.
Although Charles had been tasked to keep tabs on Carol, he and Erik had been swamped with nation-building matters, drowning in endless responsibilities. No one could keep eyes on her every second of every day.
But Alex hadn't needed anyone. From the moment the Kree ship pierced Earth's atmosphere, his super-hearing had picked it up. He'd been listening the whole time.
He knew Carol had been dispatched to investigate. He knew the Kree had found her. And he knew exactly when she'd be shot.
He could have prevented it with ease. He could have swooped in before the first bolt of alien energy ever touched her.
But he didn't.
Because Alex wasn't just saving Carol—he was laying the groundwork for something greater.
The Carol Danvers he wanted wasn't a decorated pilot. He wanted Captain Marvel.
And to awaken Captain Marvel, the universe had already provided a blueprint. A wound, a near-death, exposure to the Tesseract's energy. That was the sequence. That was the formula.
Alex had no intention of reinventing the wheel.
"Ike, save her first," Alex ordered, his tone leaving no room for delay.
Ike nodded sharply and rushed into the treatment room.
Meanwhile, the others crowded by the glass window, peering curiously inside.
They had heard Alex mention Carol more than once. They knew he kept tabs on her. But looking at her now—bruised, battered, unconscious—she seemed like nothing more than an ordinary woman.
Was this the one Alex valued so much?
Minutes ticked by.
Finally, Ike emerged, wiping sweat from his brow. "Director, she's fine now. I've stabilized her injuries. Physically, she's no longer in danger. But she's drained, mentally and physically. She'll need rest."
Alex gave a small nod. "Good work. Go get some rest yourself."
Ike bowed slightly before leaving.
Alex turned, leading the senior mutants back to the conference hall. The moment they entered, Raven was the first to press the question weighing on all their minds.
"Alex, what happened out there? How did Carol get hurt?"
"She ran into the Kree," Alex said matter-of-factly.
"They finally came," Hank muttered, his face grave.
Everyone else wore similar expressions. The heavy atmosphere thickened. They had all known this day would arrive, ever since Alex wiped out the Kree and Skrull infiltrators. They just hadn't expected the retaliation so soon.
But Alex sat casually, leaning back in his chair, radiating confidence.
"Don't worry," he said, his voice firm. "I have the Kree under control. They won't cause us trouble."
Those words alone were enough to steady everyone's nerves.
Carol was alive. The aliens were dead. And Alex was already planning the next step.
Now that Carol Danvers had seen the truth with her own eyes—alien soldiers, alien weapons, alien blood—her worldview was already cracking.
Next would come the Tesseract.
Next would come her rebirth.
The rise of Captain Marvel.
"Alright, let's not waste time," Alex clapped once, drawing everyone's attention. "I killed all the Kree at the scene, but I prioritized Carol's rescue. I didn't clean it up. Raven, that's your task."
He shifted his gaze. "Hank, there are two intact Kree ships parked there. They're yours."
"Two… interstellar ships?" Hank's jaw nearly dropped, eyes instantly gleaming with excitement.
The others gasped as well.
For Hank, though, this was like being handed the keys to a treasure trove. With access to Kree technology, Earth's science could leap centuries ahead overnight.
Without another word, he dashed off with Raven, his mind already burning with endless possibilities.
Alex leaned back in his chair, his expression unreadable.
Everything was moving exactly according to plan.
Carol Danvers had stepped onto the path toward becoming Captain Marvel.
And when she finally "went online"…
She would be his.
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