The synthesized female voice echoed through the empty corridor, every syllable carrying a metallic chill.
"Level One Defense Protocol… activated."
The moment the words fell,burst from seams at both ends of the corridor, weaving together into two impenetrable walls of light that completely sealed off any retreat. Almost simultaneously, dozens of smooth square panels slid open in the ceiling and floor. From them emerged pure-white drones shaped like mechanical spiders, landing soundlessly on the walls and ground.
They weren't large—about the size of a basketball—but they moved with unsettling agility. Eight razor-sharp metal legs supported their rounded bodies, and at the center of each chassis, a single blue lens—like a cyclopean eye—lit up, locking onto the three intruders in the corridor.
"Damn it," Talos muttered under his breath, reacting instantly. Almost the moment the drones appeared, he drew a strangely shaped Skrull energy pistol from his waist. He lowered his center of gravity slightly, assuming a textbook combat stance. As a general who had fought across the stars for decades, he was intimately familiar with automated defense systems like this.
Carol was no slower. Golden cosmic energy instantly wrapped around her hands, crackling and hissing. The air temperature rose as a powerful energy field radiated outward from her body. She was ready to unleash twin blasts and melt these obstacles into scrap.
Only Levi remained where he was, posture unchanged. Hands in his pockets, he studied the drones with bored curiosity. There was no tension in his eyes—only the detached interest of someone visiting a science museum.
"Stable energy output, flexible joints, standard pulse-ray weapon systems," he commented casually.
"Pretty solid design. Looks like Dr. Lawson had a talent for weapons engineering too."
"This is not the time!" Carol snapped. She could feel the drones charging—another second and they would fire.
"Relax," Levi said, lifting one hand lazily and waving it at her and Talos.
"No need to make it so complicated."
Almost as he spoke, every drone's blue eye flared brightly. Dozens of high-energy pulse beams crisscrossed into a lethal web, converging from all directions and sealing off every possible angle of escape.
Talos's pupils shrank. He instinctively twisted his body, searching for cover. Carol's golden aura flared to its peak as she prepared to tank the attack head-on.
Levi, however, simply raised his hand and gently closed his fingers.
What followed defied language.
The empty space before him seemed to turn soft, like fabric, yanked inward by an invisible hand to form a small, rapidly spinning depression.
The pulse beams—each powerful enough to melt starship armor—entered that distorted space and vanished without a ripple, like mud sinking into the sea.
In the next instant, identical distortions appeared behind the drones.
The vanished beams burst back out—at full speed—slamming directly into the drones' own backs.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
A chain of explosions tore through the corridor, fire and arcs of electricity flashing wildly. In less than a second, the entire swarm of aggressive defense drones had been reduced to smoking piles of scrap scattered across the floor.
The whole process was brutally efficient—and absurdly elegant.
Talos stood frozen, gun still raised, mouth slightly open. He'd fought wars his entire life and seen all kinds of power—warriors who tore apart battleships with their bare hands, beings who commanded storms of energy—but never anything like this.
This wasn't strength. It wasn't energy.
It was closer to… a god rewriting the rules of reality.
Everything he prided himself on—his experience, his instincts—felt like a joke in front of this man.
Carol slowly lowered her glowing hands, staring at Levi's back with a complicated expression. She knew he was strong, but every time he revealed his power, it shattered her expectations anew. It felt as though he had no limits at all.
"All clear," Levi said, as if he'd just brushed dust off a shelf. He clapped his hands lightly and walked forward.
When he reached the glowing blue energy wall, he didn't slow down. He walked straight through it.
At the moment of contact, his body met no resistance—passing through the barrier like a hologram, emerging effortlessly on the other side.
Talos's eyes nearly popped out of his head. He cautiously reached out and touched the wall.
A violent surge of electricity shot through him, making him jerk violently as his hair stood on end.
"Is this… spatial law?" he murmured, almost dreaming. In ancient Skrull legends, only creator gods who touched the origin of the universe could toy with space so casually.
"Move," Levi's voice called from ahead.
Carol and Talos exchanged a glance, both seeing the same shock in each other's eyes, before hurrying after him. As they passed through, the energy walls dissolved automatically.
"Level One Defense Protocol… disengaged. Threat level reduced to zero."
The mechanical voice sounded again—this time oddly gentler.
"Identity confirmed. Welcome home, Dr. Mar-Vell."
The station's AI had clearly recognized Carol's identity through the energy resonance—or perhaps it had simply been "persuaded" by Levi's unreasonable power.
The corridor walls shifted, becoming massive transparent windows. Outside stretched the deep cosmos and the immense blue planet below. It felt as though they were walking through the stars themselves.
At the end of the corridor stood a gigantic circular metal door. As they approached, it slid open silently.
The Core Laboratory.
It was far larger than the outer offices, like a vast circular amphitheater. A multi-tiered control platform occupied the center, surrounded by countless hovering holographic displays glowing softly. The dome ceiling was completely transparent, offering a breathtaking view of the Milky Way.
And at the very center of the lab, restrained by a complex energy containment system, floated a massive cube emitting a gentle blue glow.
The Tesseract.
"That's it…" Carol whispered, staring at the cube. She could feel the intense resonance with the energy inside her. Six years ago, this object had rewritten her fate.
Levi's gaze lingered on the Tesseract for a few seconds as well. He could sense the pure, primordial spatial energy contained within. The power inside him stirred joyfully, like a child reunited with its mother. He forcibly suppressed the urge to rush forward and "copy" the entire thing.
Not yet.
"Here!" Talos exclaimed, snapping their attention away.
He stood at the central console, pointing at a massive holographic screen. Carol stepped closer and saw a vast star map. A clearly marked route stretched across it, ending in an unknown region at the edge of the Andromeda Galaxy.
Beside the route was a file.
With trembling hands, Talos opened it.
A list appeared.
A roster of names—hundreds of Skrulls—each accompanied by family relations and basic information.
Talos's eyes raced over the list, his breathing growing faster and faster. Then—halfway down—he found two names etched into his very soul.
So-Ral, his wife.
Aelru, his daughter.
"They're… they're alive…"
His body shook violently. This hardened general—who had never shed a tear on the battlefield—went weak in the knees, barely catching himself on the console. His shoulders heaved as a suppressed, animal-like sob escaped his throat.
Carol watched silently. She understood that kind of joy and pain.
Levi, however, remained calm. His gaze moved not to the star map, but slowly swept the entire laboratory. His perception already covered every inch of the station.
He knew there were others here.
Below the list, Dr. Lawson had left a log entry:
"I hid them. In the safest place imaginable. Somewhere no Kree would ever think to look. They are innocent—they only want to live. If something happens to me, I hope whoever finds this will help them find a new home."
"Hid them? Where?" Carol frowned. The station was large, but there was nowhere obvious that could hide hundreds of people.
"They're here," Levi said suddenly.
His eyes settled on an unremarkable cargo transfer hatch in the corner of the lab.
"Right below us. In a folded subspace."
His perception clearly revealed a separate pocket of space beneath the metal floor. Hundreds of faint life signals glimmered there like fireflies.
And at their center was something very different.
An extraordinarily powerful, tightly contained life signal—not pure energy like Carol or the Tesseract. It felt like an infinitely compressed black hole… or a supernova on the brink of detonation.
Levi's lips curved into a faint smile.
He knew exactly what it was.
A Flerken.
A fully grown one—with complete spatial abilities.
Far more valuable than the shape-shifting he'd copied from Mystique. An S-rank gift package delivered straight to his door.
Just as he was about to speak and let Talos reunite with his family—
A piercing alarm blared throughout the station without warning.
"Warning! Warning! Large-scale Kree Imperial fleet detected! Approaching rapidly!"
For the first time, the mechanical voice carried urgency.
The holographic star map switched to real-time external visuals.
Out of the darkness of space emerged a colossal black warship, mountain-sized, sliding out of hyperspace. Its brutal, aggressive design screamed Kree imperial aesthetics. Dozens of escort ships followed, forming a tight encirclement.
On the flagship's prow was a massive emblem—symbol of death and judgment.
Ronan's flagship: The Dark Aster.
A cold, fanatical figure appeared as a projection in the center of the lab—clad in black armor, wielding a massive war hammer.
Ronan the Accuser.
"Earthlings hiding inside, and Skrull remnants," Ronan said emotionlessly, as if delivering a verdict.
"You have thirty seconds. Hand over the human weapon designated 'Vers,' and the Tesseract Mar-Vell concealed."
His gaze seemed to pierce the screen, locking onto Carol.
"Otherwise, this station—and everything in it—will be purged."
Carol's face hardened instantly. She clenched her fists as golden energy boiled once more. The figure she once revered now inspired only boundless rage.
Talos, meanwhile, looked stricken with despair. He knew Ronan—a fanatic, a butcher. There would be no mercy.
Levi, however, acted as if he hadn't heard a word.
His attention wasn't on the fleet at all.
His eyes remained fixed—interested, almost amused—on the cargo hatch.
Ronan? The Kree fleet?
That was just the main course.
Before that, he intended to enjoy this unexpected—and irresistibly tempting—appetizer.
"System," he thought calmly,
"Lock onto that signal source. Prepare to copy.".
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