An Uninvited Guest Arrives at the Villa

Mornings at Stark Villa were usually quiet, but today, that quiet was shattered by a rapid burst of doorbell ringing. Tony Stark, wearing a bathrobe and holding a cup of coffee, stared at the unexpected visitors on the security monitor.

"Captain?" Tony said into the intercom. "Coming to my house this early—you're not here to collect neighborhood association fees, are you?"

Steve Rogers stood outside the gate, with Natasha Romanoff and Sam Wilson behind him. "We need to talk, Tony. About the... alien incident at the beach yesterday."

In the living room, Xiao Han lay on the sofa, assembling a ten-thousand-piece puzzle at super speed. "If you're here to lecture us again," he said without looking up, "I suggest you get in line first. Tony's coffee machine is broken, and he's in a terrible mood."

Tony shot him a glare. "The coffee machine isn't broken. It's just that someone used it to heat alien metal fragments yesterday."

Natasha looked around the living room, her gaze settling on the Kree Empire weapon wreckage in the corner. "Looks like things really were lively yesterday."

"Like an interstellar junkyard," Sam commented, carefully stepping around the scattered parts on the floor.

Steve looked gravely at Tony. "S.H.I.E.L.D. needs to know exactly what happened. Fury said those Kree might come back for revenge."

Xiao Han finally looked up, holding two nearly identical puzzle pieces. "Would they dare come back? I very politely asked them to leave yesterday." He precisely placed one of the pieces in the right spot. "Though my method may have been a little... direct."

"You took apart three warships into components," Tony reminded him.

"And stuffed one ship's engine into another ship's cockpit," Sam added, clearly having read the mission report.

Xiao Han shrugged. "They came to the wrong place at the wrong time." He completed a large section of sky in the puzzle. "And they blocked my sunlight."

Just then, a rainbow-colored pillar of light descended from the sky and landed on the beach. Thor strode out of it, his red cape billowing behind him.

"Friends of Midgard!" His booming voice carried through the glass doors. "I bring news from Asgard!"

Tony sighed. "Fine, now even a Norse god has shown up. Should I just publish my address in the Interstellar Times?"

Thor entered the living room and immediately noticed the alien technology on the floor. "Ah! Kree Empire equipment! Have those arrogant fools finally come to cause trouble in Midgard?"

"You know them?" Steve asked.

Thor picked up a Kree energy weapon and toyed with it in his hand. "No one in the Nine Realms likes the Kree Empire. They think they can rule every planet they see." The weapon suddenly began to hum in his grip, and Thor casually crushed it. "Unreliable technology."

Xiao Han raised an eyebrow. "Looks like I'm not the only one who thinks their product quality is terrible."

"Their emperor is worse," Thor snorted. "Arrogant and narrow-minded. My father once threw him out of Asgard for insulting the dwarves at a banquet."

Natasha asked sharply, "So the Kree Empire is a threat?"

"A threat to every civilization that refuses to submit to them." Thor's expression turned serious. "That is why I came. Heimdall saw a Kree fleet near Midgard, and Odin sent me to warn you."

Tony looked at Xiao Han. "Looks like you caused a big problem yesterday."

Xiao Han finally fitted in the last puzzle piece. "No, the problem came looking for me." He stood and stretched lazily. "And lately, I've discovered that the best way to solve a problem is to make it understand, all at once, not to come back."

An alarm suddenly went off. JARVIS reported calmly, "Multiple spatial distortion points detected approaching. Their energy signatures resemble Kamar-Taj magic, but contain unknown variations."

Strange's portal appeared in the center of the living room, but he looked somewhat disheveled, with several tears in his robes.

"We need to talk," the sorcerer said, breathing hard. "Someone is trying to cross over from other dimensions, and they are particularly... persistent."

Tony rubbed his forehead. "How many more people are coming today? Should I just throw a party?"

"This is different," Strange said seriously. "The barriers of the multiverse are thinning, and something seems to have been drawn here by your 'interstellar exchange' yesterday."

Xiao Han looked thoughtful. "So I'm supposed to be responsible for the multiverse becoming unstable? That's a new charge."

"It isn't an accusation. It's a fact." Strange opened a projection displaying a series of complicated multidimensional coordinates. "The energy released by your conflict with the Kree Empire was as bright as a beacon. Now beings from various dimensions want to see what produced such a powerful signal."

Thor tightened his grip on Mjolnir. "Let them come! Asgardians never fear battle!"

"We are not trying to fight," Strange explained patiently. "We are trying to avoid unnecessary attention."

Steve cut in. "Then what should we do now?"

"First," Tony said, "I'm going to fix my coffee machine. I can't think without coffee."

Xiao Han suddenly headed toward the kitchen. "I'll fix it. I watched you repair it last time. It looked easy."

Everyone froze, then shouted in unison, "No!"

But it was already too late. The kitchen erupted with the sound of metal twisting and electrical sparks popping, followed by a small plume of black smoke.

Xiao Han walked out holding a completely warped lump of metal. "I think it's worse now."

Tony collapsed onto the sofa. "That was a limited edition custom-made in Switzerland..."

Ignoring the little incident, Strange continued seriously, "The sorcerers of Kamar-Taj are doing everything they can to repair the dimensional barriers, but we need to reduce the energy signature here."

"Meaning?" Natasha asked.

"Meaning," Strange said, looking at Xiao Han, "you need to... keep a lower profile for a while. Don't create any more large-scale energy discharges."

Xiao Han raised an eyebrow. "What about sunbathing?"

"Normal sunbathing is fine. Just don't... you know, take apart alien warships for fun again."

Thor laughed heartily. "Ha! Releasing one's strength in battle is a warrior's glory!"

"This isn't about glory," Steve said calmly. "It's about protecting Earth from unnecessary attention."

Sam nodded. "We already have enough problems. We don't need a few more coming from other dimensions."

Just then, Bruce Banner timidly poked his head in through the doorway. "Uh, Tony? Fury sent me to analyze some alien technology... Is there a meeting going on?"

Tony waved him inside. "Perfect timing, Banner. We're discussing how to keep our houseguest from attracting any more interstellar and cross-dimensional attention."

Banner adjusted his glasses. "Actually, I found something interesting in the energy readings." He opened the tablet he had brought with him. "The energy released in yesterday's incident is somewhat similar to the Tesseract. This may not be attracting attention—it may be some kind of... energy resonance."

Strange leaned in to examine the data. "He's right. This energy signature... is indeed similar to the Infinity Stones."

Everyone fell silent at once, their eyes turning toward Xiao Han.

Xiao Han was trying to use his super vision to inspect the coffee machine's internal structure. Sensing everyone's gaze, he looked up. "What? What did I do this time?"

Tony took a deep breath. "I just suddenly realized that maybe you aren't the one attracting trouble." He pointed at the data on the tablet. "Maybe the solar energy in your body has resonated with some kind of cosmic energy."

Strange added, "Like how the Infinity Stones are drawn to one another."

Xiao Han thought for a moment, then said, "So this might not be my fault?"

"No," Tony and Strange said in unison. "It's still your fault."

Banner hurried to smooth things over. "But that also means we can predict when the next energy resonance will occur. I can design a monitoring system that gives us advance warning when space-time distortion reaches a critical point."

Natasha raised the practical question. "What about before then?"

"Before then," Steve said, "we need a plan. If the Kree Empire returns, or beings from other dimensions cross over, we need to be prepared."

Thor raised his hammer. "A battle plan!"

Sam sighed. "Or a diplomatic plan. Not every problem needs to be solved with fighting."

Xiao Han finally gave up on the coffee machine, walked to the refrigerator, and took out a tub of ice cream. "Make all the plans you want. I only have one request."

Everyone looked at him.

"If there's another fight," he said, scooping up a huge spoonful of ice cream, "don't schedule it during my sunbathing time."

Tony could not help laughing. "Deal. Now, who's going to help me order a new coffee machine?"

"I can go," Sam volunteered. "I need to buy a few things anyway."

Natasha stood up. "I'll go with you. Someone needs to make sure you don't buy any more tacky beach shorts."

Steve looked at Banner and Strange. "Maybe we should go to the S.H.I.E.L.D. lab and work on that monitoring system together."

Thor pounded his chest. "Then I shall remain here! To defend Midgard from invasion!" He suddenly thought of something. "By the way, do you have beer?"

Watching everyone split up to take action, Xiao Han shook his head. "This bunch is supposed to protect Earth?" he said to the empty living room. "Earth really has no one else to choose from."

At that moment, JARVIS's voice sounded. "Gentlemen, another energy signal has been detected. A small spacecraft appears to be approaching. Its energy signature indicates... Skrull."

Xiao Han sighed and headed for the door. "It had better not be someone else coming to ask for help."

Thor eagerly followed him. "Perhaps they have come to offer thanks! Or to issue a challenge! Either would be good!"

When the two reached the beach, they indeed saw a small Skrull spacecraft landing. The hatch opened, and the person who emerged was not one of the scientists from before, but a middle-aged man wearing a Skrull military uniform.

"I am General Tal of the Skrull Empire," he said in fluent English. "I have come to... uh..." When he saw Xiao Han, he visibly tensed. "To express our gratitude and apology."

Thor lowered his hammer in disappointment. "You're not here to fight?"

General Tal grew even more nervous. "No! Absolutely not! We are here to thank you for saving our scientists and to apologize for the Kree Empire's actions. We have already lodged an official protest with the Kree Empire through diplomatic channels."

Xiao Han raised an eyebrow. "Will that do any good?"

"Actually," General Tal said with something like a smile, "after hearing what happened, the Kree Empire has withdrawn all border patrols. It seems they do not wish to approach this galaxy for the time being."

Thor laughed loudly. "A wise choice!"

General Tal handed them a small device. "This is a small token of our appreciation. It is an energy device that can convert solar energy into usable power. We heard... that you enjoy sunbathing."

Xiao Han took the device and examined it closely. "Its efficiency is much higher than Tony's Solar Panel."

Tony's voice came from behind them. "Hey! I heard that!" He walked over and looked curiously at the device. "Can I see it?"

General Tal nodded. "Of course. We also bring news: the Kree Empire is debating whether to classify the solar system as a... 'high-risk region.'"

Tony snorted. "Meaning they don't dare come back?"

"Meaning," Tal said with a smile, "they may send diplomats rather than warships first."

Steve and Natasha also walked over. "Diplomacy should always be the first choice," the captain said.

General Tal saluted everyone. "Then my mission is complete. Thank you again for your assistance." He retreated into the spacecraft, which soon took off and vanished into the sky.

Everyone watched silently as the spacecraft disappeared.

Tony was the first to speak. "So we don't have to worry about the Kree Empire for now?"

"Looks that way," Natasha said.

Thor sighed. "How boring. I was looking forward to a glorious battle."

Xiao Han had already begun studying the solar energy device. "Can this be connected to the coffee machine?"

Tony's eyes lit up. "Maybe it can! Let's try it!"

Steve watched the two head toward the workshop and smiled as he shook his head. "Sometimes I think the responsibility of protecting Earth rests on the shoulders of a bunch of lunatics."

Natasha patted his shoulder. "You'll get used to it, Captain. You'll get used to it."

In the distance, Bruce Banner and Strange were arguing intensely about something, Sam had returned carrying shopping bags, and Thor had already started drinking beer.

Another crisis seemed to have been averted, at least for now.