The alarm reached every major defense network on Earth within seconds.
But the first place it was truly understood was the Avengers command deck aboard the orbit eraing watch station.
The holographic display in the center of the room showed a terrifying image.
Where Mars had once been…
There was now only a spreading cloud of debris.
An expanding asteroid belt where Arakko had existed hours earlier.
No one spoke for several seconds.
Finally Tony Stark broke the silence.
"Tell me that's a sensor glitch."
The silence answered him.
The Realization
At the head of the table stood Captain America.
His posture was rigid.
His eyes locked on the destroyed planet.
"It wasn't an asteroid."
No one argued.
Across the room Bruce Banner looked like someone had just handed him a death sentence.
His fingers raced across a tablet.
"No asteroid produces energy signatures like this."
The numbers kept appearing.
Banner stopped typing.
His face had gone pale.
"The kinetic energy release was approximately ten to the thirty-second joules."
Tony slowly removed his sunglasses.
"English."
Banner swallowed.
"The asteroid that killed the dinosaurs released ten to the twenty-third."
The room went completely still.
"This was a billion times stronger."
At the far side of the chamber stood Thor.
The God of Thunder stared at the screen in silence.
His grip on Mjolnir slowly tightened.
"A being who can shatter worlds…"
His voice was quiet.
"…is no longer a mortal threat."
Tony sighed.
"Yeah. That's my takeaway too."
Natasha Romanoff leaned forward.
She had been reviewing the combat footage from Mars
.
The last recorded transmissions from the Arakko mutants.
"He didn't just destroy the planet."
She enlarged the image.
Biological tendrils moving across the debris field.
Assimilation.
Consumption.
"He harvested them."
Tony's expression hardened.
"You're telling me the thing that blew up Mars just… upgraded itself."
Natasha nodded.
"Every mutant he consumes makes him stronger."
Banner spoke again.
Quietly.
"If he absorbed Omega-level mutants…"
He brought up a projection of the solar system.
Several points lit up simultaneously.
"His spatial awareness could now extend across planetary distances."
Tony looked at the screen.
"Meaning?"
Banner finished the sentence.
"He can see Earth right now."
The Movement
Suddenly the orbital sensors screamed.
A new trajectory line appeared on the display.
A glowing vector pointing toward Earth.
Tony squinted at the numbers.
Then he leaned closer.
Then he laughed once.
It wasn't a happy sound.
"Oh that's fantastic."
Steve looked at him.
"What is it?"
Tony pointed at the velocity reading.
"He's accelerating again."
Banner checked the data.
His voice came out barely above a whisper.
"Six thousand kilometers per second."
Clint Barton blinked.
"Is that bad?"
Tony didn't even look at him.
"At that speed… if he hits Earth…"
Banner finished the thought.
"…the planet dies."
Thor stepped forward.
Lightning began crawling across the ceiling.
His eyes glowed with divine fury.
"Then we shall meet him before he arrives."
Tony looked at him.
"You're planning to intercept a guy who just punched through a planet?"
Thor lifted Mjolnir.
Thunder rolled through the chamber.
"A god does not hide from monsters."
Captain America placed both hands on the table.
The soldier in him was already planning.
"We don't wait for him to reach Earth."
He looked at Tony.
"We meet him in space."
Tony sighed.
"Great. Space war against the planet killer."
Then he started issuing commands.
"Deploy every orbital defense platform."
He turned toward the others.
"Because if that thing reaches Earth…"
The hologram zoomed in on the approaching object.
A tiny glowing speck moving through the void.
But they all knew what it was.
Derrick.
Tony finished the sentence.
"…there won't be an Earth left to protect."
And far out in space…
Derrick had already begun accelerating again.
The distance between him and Earth was closing rapidly.
..
Near Earth Orbit
The blue sphere of Earth rotated peacefully beneath the stars.
Cloud systems drifted lazily across oceans.
Billions of people lived their lives completely unaware that a planetary extinction event was only minutes away.
Far above the atmosphere,
Something was approaching.
A glowing distortion in space, moving at impossible velocity.
Then it slowed to a dead stop.
Derrick had arrived.
His body hovered silently at the edge of Earth's orbital range. Solar radiation shimmered across the black-red organic armor coating his skin.
Through the spatial awareness inherited from Lactuca the Knower, he could perceive nearly everything happening around the planet.
Satellites.
Defense grids.
Military fleets.
And two approaching power signatures.
He waited.
A streak of lightning tore across the vacuum.
Thor emerged first, flying forward with Mjolnir crackling with cosmic storm energy.
Behind him, an armored figure rocketed into position.
Tony Stark.
The newest armor unfolded into combat configuration as he slowed beside Thor.
Missile bays opened.
Energy capacitors charged.
Tony looked at the readings on his HUD.
Then he sighed.
"Okay. I'm officially out of my depth."
Thor didn't look away from Derrick.
"You may return to Earth if you fear him."
Tony snorted.
"Buddy, I fear everything. I just do it while shooting at it."
Derrick studied them calmly.
The Blacklight network processed data in microseconds.
Thor.
Asgardian.
Divine energy signature.
Residual genetic compatibility with what Derrick had already absorbed.
Tony Stark.
Human.
Advanced technological interface.
Extremely dangerous intellectually but biologically irrelevant.
Derrick tilted his head slightly.
"You're trying to stall me."
Tony blinked.
"Well that's awkwardly perceptive."
Thor raised Mjolnir.
Lightning exploded outward across space.
"Creature… you have slain countless innocents and destroyed a world."
His voice carried divine authority.
"You will go no further."
Derrick looked past him briefly.
At Earth.
Then back.
"You can't stop me anymore, lightning boy ."
Thor charged immediately after the taunt
Thor crossed the distance instantly.
Mjolnir swung with the force of a collapsing mountain.
The hammer struck Derrick square in the chest.
The impact released a shockwave visible from orbit.
For a moment Derrick was pushed backward.
Thor followed with another strike.
Then another.
Then another.
Each hit carried the strength of an Asgardian god.
Tony joined in.
Hundreds of micro-missiles detonated around Derrick simultaneously.
Laser cannons fired.
Particle beams cut through the vacuum.
From Earth it would have looked like a star exploding repeatedly.
But inside the storm,
Derrick was barely moving.
He allowed the attacks to land.
His body regenerated the minor damage almost instantly now.
He wasn't struggling.
He was studying.
Thor noticed it first.
"Why does he not fight back ?"
Tony's HUD ran thousands of combat simulations.
None of them ended well.
"Because he's probably testing his current strength against our attacks."
Thor swung again, getting annoyed at the results.
This time Derrick caught Mjolnir mid-strike.
Thor's eyes widened slightly.
For a moment the hammer didn't move.
Derrick studied it.
Then he let go.
Thor barely had time to react before Derrick vanished.
He reappeared behind Tony.
Iron Man's armor screamed warnings.
Tony turned,
And Derrick lightly tapped the armor.
The impact launched Tony backward through space at hypersonic speed.
He smashed through two defense satellites before his thrusters managed to stabilize him.
Tony gasped.
"Okay… that was rude and a bit terrifying."
Meanwhile Thor had already turned.
Lightning storms exploded across orbit.
Mjolnir summoned a cosmic thunderbolt powerful enough to vaporize cities.
The lightning struck Derrick directly.
When it faded,
Derrick was still there.
He looked mildly annoyed now.
Krakoa
Deep within the living island nation of Krakoa, emergency alarms were still ringing.
Dozens of spatial portals had opened only minutes earlier.
Through them came the survivors of Arakko.
Warriors.
Children.
Leaders.
Refugees from a destroyed world.
The ground trembled slightly as the portals closed.
Silence spread across the mutant capital.
Then a voice whispered.
"Mars… is gone."
Standing among the survivors was Storm.
Her usually regal composure had cracked.
She had felt the moment the planet died.
Beside her stood the members of the Quiet Council.
Including Professor X.
He looked at the survivors.
At the wounded.
At the children who had lost their world.
His voice trembled.
"How many escaped?"
Storm answered quietly.
"A few thousand."
That number hung in the air.
Arakko had held millions.
Mystique clenched her fists.
"He wiped out a civilization."
Destiny spoke softly.
"And now he comes for Earth."
Through telepathic relays, the mutants could feel the battle in orbit.
Thor.
Iron Man.
Derrick.
Storm closed her eyes briefly.
She knew what was about to happen.
"They cannot stop him."
Magneto's voice was grim.
"Then we must prepare for when he reaches the surface."
The survivors of Arakko slowly realized the truth.
The monster that had destroyed their world…
Was now fighting the defenders of Earth.
And the battle above the planet was already going badly.
Back in Orbit
Thor slammed Mjolnir into Derrick again.
Lightning detonated across space.
Tony returned to the fight, firing everything his armor had.
But Derrick was no longer passive.
He grabbed Thor mid-swing.
The God of Thunder barely had time to react before Derrick hurled him toward the Moon with planet-cracking force.
Then Derrick turned toward Earth again.
Tony's voice came through the comm channel.
"Thor's down… temporarily."
He stared at Derrick through the visor.
"You know we're not letting you through, right?"
Derrick didn't even look at him.
"You're not part of the equation anymore Stark, you're just a mosquito in a hurricane at this ."
He accelerated.
Straight toward Earth's atmosphere ignoring tony.
And the defenders of the planet realized something horrifying.
The battle hadn't been a fight.
It had just been a delay.