"Jarvis," Tony whispered, his voice cracking slightly. "Check the logs. Give it to me straight—whose energy signature is heavier? This lady, or our favorite neighborhood martial arts master, Huang Wen?"
"Sir," Jarvis's voice was as clinical as ever, though there was a slight delay as if the AI was double-checking its own sanity. "Mr. Huang Wen's internal energy levels are... complex. They are deep, but they are contained. However, the woman in front of us is currently outputting a raw cosmic signature that exceeds anything in my database. On a purely quantitative level, she is significantly more 'luminous' than Mr. Huang Wen."
Tony's eyes narrowed. "Terrific. Another heavy hitter to ruin my insurance premiums."
But the Lizard—or Doctor Octopus as the newspapers had erroneously started calling the multi-limbed reptilian freak—wasn't interested in energy readings. Enraged by the woman's condescending tone, he let out a roar that shattered the remaining glass in the storefronts. He was a creature of the earth, of the sewers, and he had no long-range weapon to reach a target hovering thirty feet up. If he'd had a fire-breathing cannon or a missile launcher, he would have fired it. Instead, he simply gathered his strength and lunged, a green blur of teeth and claws.
Carol Danvers didn't even flinch. She'd roamed the deepest, most hostile corners of the Kree Empire for decades. No one had dared to roar at her in a very long time.
"Wrong move," she said simply.
With a motion so fast it barely registered as a blur, she unleashed a wave of golden-white photon energy. It wasn't a beam; it was a wall of force, a cosmic "Hulk strike" delivered with surgical precision.
BOOM!
The Lizard didn't just fly back. He disintegrated. The sheer thermal and kinetic energy of the blast hit the monster at a molecular level. By the time the dust settled, there wasn't a single intact piece of the reptile left. A massive, scorched crater sat where the monster had been standing a second ago.
"I... I think I just swallowed my tongue," Tony Stark muttered, his eyes wide behind his visor. He'd seen the Unibeam punch a hole in the Lizard, but this woman had just deleted the creature from existence without breaking a sweat.
"Huang Wen has a rival," Tony added, his subconscious already running a thousand simulations on what a fight between the two would look like.
Up on the ledge, the Spider-Trio was paralyzed. Peter Parker, in his shock, completely forgot he was supposed to be a superhero. "Huang Liang... tell me the truth. Is your Master actually stronger than that?"
The instant death of the Lizard—the same monster that had nearly gutted all three of them—was too much for Peter to process. It made his own efforts feel like a playground scuffle.
Huang Liang looked at the smoking crater, his expression tense. He'd always believed his Master was the peak of power on this planet, but seeing this woman's effortless destruction made him hesitate. "I... I don't know, Peter. Master is deep, like the ocean. But this woman... she's like the sun. It's hard to compare them when one is a mountain and the other is a star."
"Huang Liang?" Gwen Stacy suddenly exclaimed, her mask tilting as she looked at Peter blankly. "Wait. Huang Liang... Peter? So you're actually the weak, dorky Peter Parker from my honors chem class?"
"Shhh!" Both boys turned on her instantly, waving their hands frantically. "Lower your voice! We're in the middle of a war zone! And wait... how do you know our names?"
Gwen paused, looking at the two boys who were currently dressed in spandex but sounding like the teenagers she saw every morning. She realized there was no point in hiding it anymore. They were going to be working together, and she'd already seen their faces (or at least heard their names).
"I'm Gwen Stacy," she said, pulling her hood back slightly to show a glimpse of blonde hair. "I'm from the classroom next to yours. You know, the one where people actually pass their tests on the first try?"
"Gwen Stacy? The top-ranked student in the junior year?" Peter's mouth twitched. He remembered her. She was the girl who always corrected the teachers and sat in the front row. He hadn't expected the most successful student in the school to be the "Ghost Spider."
"Heh... quite a connection," Peter muttered. "I guess when my class went to that Oscorp exhibit, yours was right behind us. Small world. Very small, radioactive world."
"It's a bond, Peter," Gwen chuckled, her voice regaining its playful edge. "A very secret bond. And I'll be sure to talk to Mary Jane about your 'flirtatious' behavior in the field later. You seem very comfortable working with mysterious women in white."
"When have I ever been flirty?!" Peter's heart hammered against his ribs. His relationship with MJ was finally moving past the 'awkward glances' stage, and he didn't need Gwen Stacy blowing it up.
"Heh, we'll see," Gwen teased. "Depends on how well you keep your mouth shut about my identity in school."
While the teenagers bickered, Tony Stark was hovering in the air, debating whether his legendary charm was enough to bridge the gap between him and the glowing woman in the sky. He straightened his posture, checking his reflection in his HUD.
Above them, Captain Marvel wasn't thinking about Tony Stark. She'd returned to Earth because Nick Fury had sent an emergency "911" page, but on her way to find the Director, she'd spotted a massive reptilian energy signature and three kids playing hero. She'd stepped in because they looked like they were out of their depth, but she wasn't particularly impressed.
Suddenly, Carol's head snapped to the side. She sensed it—a pair of eyes. Not the eyes of a fan or a soldier, but a gaze that carried weight. She raised an eyebrow and stared toward a seemingly empty point in the sky.
"Sharp perception," a voice echoed.
Huang Wen didn't wait to be discovered. He transformed into a beam of white light, manifesting directly in front of Captain Marvel. He floated there, arms crossed, looking remarkably casual for someone standing in front of a living nuclear reactor.
"It's a pleasure to finally meet the legendary Captain," Huang Wen said, nodding with a polite smile. He knew Fury had probably called her back as a "insurance policy" against him, but he wasn't worried. Carol wasn't a mindless weapon; she was a soldier.
Carol Danvers scanned him indifferently. She saw the Qi flowing through him—refined, ancient, and disciplined. "Good talent. Good power," she noted, her voice neutral. She looked down at the Spider-Trio. "So you're the Huang Wen everyone is whispering about? The one training the children to wear masks?"
"They need to grow," Huang Wen replied smoothly. "Though, since you've already turned the villain into a memory, I suppose my intervention is no longer required."
"There are too many powerful people on this planet who think they're untouchable," Carol warned, her tone becoming like that of a senior officer addressing a new recruit. "Don't get arrogant, Huang Wen. I have a meeting with a friend, but I'll come find you when I have time to see what you're really capable of."
Before Huang Wen could even respond, she ignited. In a flash of gold, she vanished, leaving a sonic boom that rattled the windows for blocks.
Huang Wen's mouth twitched. "Wow. And I thought Tony Stark was the king of arrogance. She makes Thor look humble. At least Thor has the excuse of being an actual God."
He looked down at the crater and sighed. "She probably hasn't even talked to Fury yet. If she had, she'd know I'm the one paying for his lunch lately. Nick really can't take a joke—he actually pressed the panic button just because I moved a few chairs around."