Kree, Welcome to Earth

The Dark Aster took center position as three escort ships opened their launch ports and ejected a total of twelve ballistic warheads.

The pitch-black missiles, streaked with deep-blue energy patterns, activated their thrusters after leaving the ships and plunged into Earth's atmosphere at incredible speed.

A flash of blue light flickered through the air, and all twelve warheads froze in midair. Their thrusters continued to spew flames slowly, yet they could not advance even an inch.

The distance through space had been stretched infinitely. No matter how hard the warheads tried, they could not get any closer to the ground. Even if they exploded, the fireworks they created would have a pitifully small effect on their surroundings.

The Dark Aster quickly detected the anomaly.

"Sir, Planet C-53 used an unknown defensive system to intercept our missiles."

"Not a defensive system. It was the Tesseract..."

Ronan frowned as he listened to his subordinate's report and studied the frozen missiles on the screen. After a moment of thought, he said, "Who is using the Tesseract's power? Mar-Vell? How did he do it?"

"We don't know yet. He inherited the title of Captain Marvel. I wouldn't be surprised by any miracle he pulled off." The subordinate shrugged. From his tone, he seemed to be a Steve fan.

"Idiot. A hero officially promoted by the Empire isn't worth worshipping. There is far too much hype around a national idol. Do you really think Captain Marvel is omnipotent?"

Ronan dismissed it with contempt. Captain Marvel was a political star crafted by the Supreme Intelligence. Though his strength was indeed formidable, half of his reputation had been built on publicity. He was nowhere near as invincible as official propaganda claimed.

The Tesseract was the Space Stone. To wield space on such a large scale, one needed