Welcome Home, Beckett

"What?"

"Who?"

"Who's back?"

Awakened by her husband, Frigga stared blankly out the window. The Asgard starry sky was as brilliant as ever, showing no sign of anything unusual.

Frigga was puzzled.

She hadn't seen Odin with such a solemn expression on his face in a long time; the last time she'd seen Odin like this was because of Thanos's son—

Wait a moment!

Long-forgotten memories surged back like a tide, instantly banishing Frigga's sleepiness!

"Odin, you mean... Beckett?"

Frigga suddenly felt that her lips were unusually dry.

She suddenly felt like drinking water.

"Ah, that's right."

"He's back."

A hint of worry was visible on his wrinkled, aged face.

The universe, which has been relatively stable for over a thousand years, is about to begin to boil again.

Odin knew better than anyone what the child would do upon his return. Twilight of the Gods Thanos once proclaimed before Agamotto, truly about to arrive?

Odin was feeling melancholy.

"No, this is impossible. How did he do it?" Frigga shook her head, clearly still finding it hard to believe.

How did Beckett, who was exiled to another universe by Odin with the Space Stone while fully armed, manage to find his way back?

Could it be that Beckett's power has reached the point where he can break through the barriers of the Multiverse at will?

"I don't know." Odin threw off the covers and got out of bed. Wearing his pajamas, he went to the window and gazed at the peaceful starry sky in the distance.

"Besides the power bearing Beckett's aura, there is also an energy that does not belong to our universe that is constantly expanding and contracting."

"It must be new power he collected in another universe."

As a qualified Asgardians, Odin, now in his old age, may not be in the same physical condition as he was in his prime, but the power he wields has undergone a qualitative leap compared to more than a thousand years ago.

The Mother Box energy that Beckett used to blast open the barrier of the Multiverse could not escape Odin's notice.

"Odin ..."

Where is Thor?

"He should be sleeping. You know, Loki falling off the Bifrost was a huge blow to him."

When she spoke of her son, Frigga's face showed a hint of sadness.

Thor always believed that Loki became like this because of his responsibility.

"Call him here."

"Now?" Frigga was taken aback.

"Yes, now." Odin sighed, turning to look at his wife with an extremely serious expression.

"I cannot leave Asgard now. I will only feel at ease if Thor goes to Midgard to retrieve the Space Stone."

"But when you made the deal with Agamotto, you said that as the price for him stopping Thanos, you would never touch the Space Stone again." Frigga was worried about breaking her promise to Agamotto.

"Certainly."

"Otherwise, why would I send Thor to do it?"

Odin lowered his eyelids, rubbed the knuckles of his right index finger, and began his shameless act.

Extraordinary events require extraordinary measures. Odin is not a conservative person; otherwise, he wouldn't have taken Laufey's son back and raised him himself.

Frigga once suspected that Odin had relapsed and cheated on Laufey, the Frost Giant King, but a subsequent paternity test proved that Loki and Odin were not related at all.

"I understand, I'll go arrange it right away." Frigga nodded worriedly, got up and left the palace.

"Thor, you must return to Midgard now..."

Centaurus Galaxy, Thanos's headquarters, Dark Order base.

Thanos, sitting alone on his throne, toyed with the Cosmic Switch that Ebony Maw had just presented to him, while clutching a few old, yellowed sheets of paper.

Time has given it new colors, but it has not been able to erase the contents of the paper.

The title "Self-Criticism" seemed particularly jarring to Thanos.

Lord Thanos, Gamora and Nebula performed admirably on their mission. While their efficiency wasn't quite on par with Beckett's, however...

Thanos closed his eyes, and the summary of Ebony Maw's previous missions echoed casually in his ears.

"In that case, let Gamora and Nebula continue to be in charge of the search for the Power Stone," Thanos said after a long pause.

"Yes, Lord Thanos."

A cold, electronic voice responded respectfully, then transcribed Thanos's decree into highly official written language and sent it to the personal information terminals of the Black Order and Gamora, the Nebula sisters.

"Lord Thanos, the time for your meeting with Ronan the Kree is approaching. Please—"

"Wait, don't speak." Thanos interrupted the dutiful Artificial Intelligence before it could even Thanos speaking.

"?"

Thanos offered no explanation, but instead closed his eyes to continue trying to capture the fleeting feeling that had crossed his mind earlier.

That feeling was all too familiar to Thanos.

"Beckett ..."

After a long while, Thanos opened his eyes, and a rare smile appeared on his usually stern face.

He knew that his adopted son would never let him down.

Although the wait was a bit long, but...

He's back.

"Pass down the order: the entire Black Order must assemble, including Gamora and Nebula."

Meanwhile, somewhere in the universe.

Having just turned his own son into a pile of bones, Ego suddenly opened his tightly closed eyes.

[Beckett!]

A deep-seated hatred surged into his heart in an instant, and the humiliation that had been bottled up for more than a thousand years almost gave Ego a mental illness.

Boom!!

An energy storm that directly destroyed nearly ten planets!

After Beckett successfully escaped the mysterious black hole by detonating all the energy inside the three Mother Boxes, Darkseid, far away at the edge of the DC universe, seemed to have sensed something...

"We... we succeeded, Your His Highness Beckett!"

We're back!

"We're back, His Highness Beckett!!"

Although he didn't spend much time in the other universe, Woz felt as if he hadn't been back for a long time when he returned to his original universe.

Excitedly, he danced around inside the bracelet's space, his expression thrilled.

"Ah, we're back."

With a light tap of his fingertip on the screen, the familiar galaxy map once again came into Beckett's view.

What doesn't kill me makes me stronger.

"Are you ready, Odin?"

With his blond hair flowing, Beckett stared intently at the region on the galaxy map called Asgard, a fierce glint flashing in his eyes.

Boom!!

Beckett recklessly increased his power, wanting to let this universe that rejected him know that he had returned!

"Your His Highness Beckett, Woz has successfully connected to the Dark Order database and is reporting to Lord Thanos— "

"No need, Woz. Father already knows I'm back."

Beckett, who had been so arrogant that he was rampaging through the universe, stopped and looked at the familiar face displayed on the right eye screen, a smile playing on his lips.

As Gamora and Nebula, filled with trepidation and curiosity, stepped off the main ship with their adoptive father Thanos, they saw a blond, blue-eyed figure.

He wore a black Battle Suit and had a cold, stern expression.

"Welcome home, Beckett."

Thanos, with his hands behind his back, flew slowly to Beckett's side, his Black Order standing in a line behind him. Though his tone was calm, the smile and affection in his eyes were undisguised.

Beckett bowed deeply, a gesture he hadn't done in a long time.

"I'm back, Father."

This is the final volume, Marvel version of fatherly love and filial piety, which was also the initial idea I had when I wrote this book.

I'll post this chapter first, then I'll go grab some food and continue writing when I get back.

The second update will be around 10 PM, and the third bonus chapter is estimated to be around 12:30 AM.