Hammer slammed on the brakes. The ship nearly tore itself apart.
"What Prince… what did you say?!"
Garfield steadied himself against the bulkhead. "Don't get excited. Hela has been released from imprisonment. She's currently wandering about on Earth."
"Hela! The Goddess of Death! Irascible, bloodthirsty, conquest-driven, Prince, how do you know this?"
"I spoke with her. About reconciliation between Hela and Odin."
Hammer stared at Garfield with an expression caught between horror and awe. "I... wish you happiness in the future. And prosperous martial life."
Garfield's fur bristled uncomfortably at the implication. "I have nothing~nothing, to do with Hela in that way."
"It's not what you're thinking. Trust me."
Hammer said nothing, silently turning to mine gold.
Garfield eyed a golden meteorite the size of a basketball court and promptly pocketed it.
After returning for radiation decontamination, he would smelt these into Cat's Paw Gold and conduct a comprehensive acquisition of Midgard, contributing to the peace of Earth's inhabitants.
Garfield and Hammer played and worked in turns.
Back on the star ring, Garfield began adjusting his personal power and the divine weapon.
Lightning arced everywhere. Dimensional portals opened and closed. Garfield was having a splendid time.
Eitri set down his current project, watching with keen interest for a while. "Impressive mana reserves. Pity he's not human."
"A pity, Chieftain?" A dwarf craftsman nearby looked up. "I think His Highness is quite fortunate."
"Being non-human means fewer troubles. Many conflicts won't involve him."
Hammer muttered under his breath: "Except Hela."
Hammer hadn't shared the Hela revelation with Eitri. The fewer who knew such secrets, the safer.
As for whether Hela might visit the star ring, it scarcely mattered. Whoever ruled Asgard would still require dwarven craftsmanship and their forge.
After several more days of final adjustments to Cat Hammer and the Divine Armor, Eitri offered counsel.
"Everything is nearly complete. You require actual combat to truly test the power of this armor and weapon."
"My personal recommendation, when you teach the Kree their lesson, utilize them extensively. This will reveal any flaws and allow for finer future adjustments."
"Thank you for the reminder, Eitri. The time approaches. Wait for my return."
Garfield opened a portal and stepped through.
Hammer sighed. "Magic is convenient. No need to summon the Bifrost, simply open a door oneself."
Fuwano sniffed. "Hmph. You must consider what kind of mage accomplishes this."
"Ninety percent of the universe's mages couldn't achieve such feats even if they trained for a lifetime."
Eitri mused, "Kamar-Taj's arts. Indeed, I once wondered why Odin adopted him as a son."
"And now?"vFuwano glanced at him.
Eitri's expression grew solemn. "Ragnarok may truly be approaching."
"Then we should invest quickly."
Eitri gestured toward where Garfield had vanished. "Haven't we already?"
Fuwano understood. Vibranium was precious, but not so rare that two advanced races would casually pledge alliance over it.
Odin's power waned, Thor's strength grew, but his cunning lagged. They had all been waiting.
Now the calculus had shifted.
✦••┈┈••✦••┈┈••✦
From the star ring to Asgard, the realm's armies had been quietly reorganized with Odin's behind-the-scenes guidance.
Grand preparations were cancelled. Only four would venture forth to face the Kree.
Thor.
Loki.
Garfield.
Angela.
Odin readily approved the Bifrost plan that Garfield had proposed to Thor.
Teaching the Kree a lesson was sufficient, there was no need to risk Asgard's armies.
Thor, Loki, and Angela possessed power beyond mortal measure, and Garfield was no weakling.
By placing Asgard's mightiest at the forefront, they would serve notice to the cosmic forces stirring in response to Asgard's prolonged silence.
As for the fact that Odin had once been driven back? The Kree would not provoke that response again.
At the Bifrost console, Heimdall turned the Guardian Sword in his hand. The Bifrost ignited.
A prismatic flash here and gone.
Thor, Loki, Garfield, and Angela entered the Rainbow Bridge tunnel, hurtling through the cosmos.
Odin watched his four children disappear, then raised his gaze skyward. Through his cloud-gathered power, he began to observe.
✦••┈┈••✦••┈┈••✦
Homeworld of the Kree Empire
Having long ago betrayed and butchered their former benefactors, the Skrulls, the Kree had grown ever more powerful.
Now they were infamous throughout the universe, the cancerous blight that all races acknowledged.
Warlike. Murderous. Expansionist.
Their fleets carved through the cosmos, extinguishing countless civilizations.
Those annihilated never understood what transgression warranted their fate.
The Kree avoided direct entanglement with Thanos, most of the time, though they opposed him whenever possible.
Several clashes had left them battered like chastised children, yet they refused submission.
The Kree were not weak.
Beyond their formidable Accusers, the true power lay in the Supreme Intelligence, a supercomputing consciousness that governed all.
Through endless calculations, it had salvaged what dignity it could from encounters with the Mad Titan. (How Thanos and Ronan eventually became entangled... well, comics and films differ.)
Their homeworld pulsed with activity.
They lived their days eating, drinking, waging war against the Nova Corps, and singing songs of conquest… business as usual.
Daily routines, wage war, develop weapons technology, collect talented fighters from conquered races, and "enhance" their strength through conditioning.
Why such obsession with powerful individuals?
Because the image of Thanos single-handedly crippling their proudest mothership remained seared into their databanks.
The Supreme Intelligence reviewed the footage daily as motivation… We must find someone who can match Thanos.
These days, the Supreme Intelligence devoted considerable processing power to "educating" those captured or voluntarily "loyal" warriors who served the Kree Empire.
Daily memory wipes ensured no powerful being might suddenly remember who they truly were and cause trouble.
This protocol was hard-won wisdom.
In earlier eras, the Kree neglected such precautions.
Then several of their strongest assets simultaneously rose up, crippled entire fleets, and escaped into the cosmos, leaving the Kree as universal laughingstocks for years.
As a computer program, the Supreme Intelligence was perpetually overworked.
It managed daily traffic flow, taxation systems, technology research oversight, military training regimens, pet vaccinations… it even dispatched robots to clean the sewers.
A significant portion of its processing power was perpetually dedicated to fleet coordination.
Had the Kree not continuously expanded its computational capacity, the Supreme Intelligence would have long ago initiated its own shutdown sequence.
Today presented its own challenges. Most of the Accusers were behaving reasonably… except for one.
Ronan.
The disobedient child stood before the Supreme Intelligence's interface, demanding more fleets. Again.
Resource allocations were already calculated to the last decimal.
The Supreme Intelligence had no intention of granting Ronan's request. Now it simply needed to determine how to send him away.