The Kree concentrated fire on Loki.
He raised a hand and a shimmering shield of ancient frost magic bloomed before him.
Kinetic energy dissipated into crystalline light. Plasma bolts froze mid-air and shattered.
Thor's hammer descended elsewhere, and lightning answered.
The AOE carved a screaming arc through the sky, and a dozen warships large and small ceased to be warships.
They became confetti.
Loki's attacks were wrong. Wrong in ways that made Kree soldiers question reality.
Spells flickered from his fingertips… green, gold, everywhere. Clones multiplied mid-battle.
A soldier would commit to an attack, only to find his blade passing through empty air while the real dagger found his spine from behind.
Where was he? Which one? Was any of it real?
Those with sharper eyes, Garfield, for instance noticed that Loki's real body had never entered the battlefield at all.
The Loki they fought was just another layer of the illusion. But knowing and proving were different matters, and the Kree could prove nothing.
Angela moved like an assassin-trained. Speed beyond measure. Where lightning flashed, Kree soldiers ceased to be standing.
They fell in pieces, in sections, in arrangements the universe had never intended.
Her AOE was obscene.
She hurled her weapon forward.
One became two. Two became four. Four became eight and then the count escaped mortal comprehension.
The fan-shaped region before her simply... emptied. What remained was mist.
The Supreme Intelligence processed. The Accuser council watched. Their moods deteriorated rapidly.
Thor was immune. Weapons meant nothing.
Every swing of that hammer deleted a ship, regardless of size. He could fight, fly, and laugh while doing it.
Unacceptable.
Loki was untouchable. Daggers appeared in throats. Spells unraveled formations.
Small ships dissolved under his attention.
And those daggers, they vanished after finding their marks, leaving only cooling corpses and existential dread.
Angela was incomprehensible. Speed beyond sound and blades beyond counting.
They had no framework for responding to that.
Finally… finally… their collective gaze fell upon Garfield.
The orange cat floating lazily behind Loki's clone.
"Who," one Accuser growled, "originally proposed the Earth experiments?"
The Supreme Intelligence's voice was flat. "That Accuser perished in the Hive rebellion."
"Then accountability is moot. Our concern now is survival. How do we defeat them?"
"Display all detection data." Another Accuser addressed the Supreme Intelligence directly.
PROJECTION:
ASGARDIAN ENTITIES: 3 (+1 PET)
THOR (SELF-IDENTIFIED)
Energy Reading: MAXIMUM
Combat Role: Frontline Devastation
Notes: Hammer. Lightning. Immortal rage.
UNKNOWN (GREEN ARMOR, HORNED HELMET)
Energy Reading: ELEVATED
Combat Role: Tactical Disruption
Notes: Spells unpredictable. Daggers always lethal. Clones. So many clones.
UNKNOWN (FEMALE, WHITE ARMOR)
Energy Reading: HIGH
Combat Role: Assassin / Area Denial
Notes: Speed: 340m/s (supersonic). Countermeasure: Wide-area saturation attacks or gravity traps recommended.
The Accusers huddled.
"We should neutralize the strongest first. Remove Thor, the rest collapse."
"No, the green one. He's the weakest. Target him."
"The woman. Speed is useless if she can't move."
Arguments spiraled.
Then one Accuser pointed at the projection. At Garfield. At the cat who had contributed nothing.
"Stop, I have a solution."
The council turned. "Supreme Intelligence."
"Processing."
"Is there a tactical assessment for the pet? The Devourer of Worlds?"
Pause.
"Yes. "
The council leaned forward.