Chapter 359: Surrendered Kree
Tony’s helmet plates slid back just enough to show his grin.
"Oh, I’m better than you? Well, I guess I don’t have to worry about you then," he quipped, voice dripping with smugness.
Steve only shook his head with a wry smile. "Anyway—now you know. You little blue-skins picked the wrong planet. What are you going to do about it?"
The commander’s nostrils flared. His burned gauntlet sparked as he clenched it tighter. Then, in a guttural Kree tongue, he barked an order that carried like thunder across the desert.
"Self-detonate! Do not let them return with information to Hala!"
Several of the soldiers snapped to attention, eyes burning with fanatic resolve. Their armor panels hissed open, exposing volatile cores glowing with dangerous blue light.
Steve’s heart dropped. "They’re going to blow themselves up!"
But before even one of them could move, Tony flicked his wrist. A ripple of bluish-white energy expanded out from his armor—a swarm of nanites, turbo-charged by his new arc reactor matrix. They flared like liquid metal lightning, racing across the sand, latching onto every Kree soldier in sight.
In seconds, their detonator cores fizzled and sputtered, sealed shut under a suffocating layer of reinforced nano-alloy. The Kree soldiers stiffened, locked in mid-motion as the nanites coiled around their limbs and forced them to their knees.
"Not today, Smurf Troopers," Tony muttered. He gave a lazy wave of his hand, and the nano-bonds hardened into glowing cuffs. The Kree forces were now helplessly pinned, their suicide command cut off.
Steve exhaled, relief flashing across his face. "Nice work, Stark."
Tony straightened, his suit glinting with refracted light off the glass-scorched desert floor. "Please. Did you really think I’d let a bunch of blue martyrs turn this place into another crater? I’m running a business here. Craters are bad for property value."
The commander snarled, struggling against the bonds, but the nanites tightened, humming with unyielding power. His pride burned hotter than the desert sun, but now it was caged.
Steve stepped closer, his tone sharpening into a soldier’s steel.
"You came here thinking Earth was prey. Now you see the truth. This planet isn’t yours to take."
The commander’s jaw flexed. His gaze darted between the flaming soldier before him and the armored genius standing behind, and—for the first time—doubt flickered in his eyes.
The desert winds picked up, carrying ash and the faint hiss of cooling glass. The Kree were bound. Their expansion had been stopped—at least here.
Steve’s voice cut through the silence.
"So, commander... are you going to tell me the real reason why you’re here? Or should we go old school and torture it out of you?" His tone was flat, cold.
The Kree just looked at him in silence, unflinching.
Tony broke in, flipping open the holographic screen on his wrist. "We got what we needed. Their heroes are stretched thin—fighting on a war front against their eternal enemies, the Skrulls. This planet of ours? Just another strategic pit stop for them."
Steve’s eyes narrowed. "How did you get all that?"
Tony smirked, shrugging. "I poked around. Little spyware here, a hacked comm-stream there. These guys broadcast more than they think. Oh, and—before you ask—I did not need to know how Kree biology handles... well, let’s just say their approach to sex isn’t exactly romantic. Human way is still better."
"Okay—stop. Why would you even want to know that?" Steve demanded, pinching the bridge of his nose.
Tony raised both hands defensively. "Scientific research! Strictly scientific. You never know what intel could be useful later."
Steve shook his head with a groan. "Unbelievable... Let’s just take them back to base and squeeze more information out of them properly."
Tony arched an eyebrow. "Already got the important bit. Their entire system revolves around some central AI, a ruler they call the Supreme Intelligence. It’s not a king or a queen—it’s worse. It’s an algorithm with a god complex."
The Kree commander’s lips curled into a faint, bitter smirk. "You speak as though you understand. You cannot begin to comprehend the Supreme Intelligence. It is not a ruler—it is destiny itself. You will bend, as all species do."
Tony’s eyes sharpened. "Or we’ll break it."
The commander didn’t flinch, but his silence was telling.
Steve stepped closer, his voice low, dangerous. "We’ll see which one happens first."
*****
The two of them—Steve and Tony—dragged the restrained Kree soldiers through the gates of Unity Tower. Their armor glinted under the artificial lighting, polished and alien in design, blue skin marred only by bruises from the scuffle.
Security personnel immediately surrounded them, weapons raised, but Steve raised a hand.
"They’re disarmed. Keep weapons ready but don’t fire unless I say so."
The soldiers were led into a containment chamber—thick reinforced glass walls, electromagnetic restraints humming faintly. A few scientists and military observers crowded around, whispering as they caught sight of the captives. Blue-skinned, proud even in chains, the Kree soldiers carried themselves like warriors, not prisoners. Their commander in particular had a cold, calculating stare—eyes locked onto Steve like he was measuring him.
Tony rubbed the back of his neck, casually strolling over to the console as if he hadn’t just brought in a squad of extraterrestrials.
"Okay, before anyone freaks out, yes—they’re real, yes—they’re Kree, and no—they don’t sparkle in the sunlight." He smirked faintly. "Though give me time and I’ll find out what they do eat for breakfast."
Steve shot him a sharp look, but Tony only shrugged.
"I’m serious," Steve said firmly, facing the gathered staff. "These aren’t just random aliens wandering through. They admitted their Empire is at war with another race—the Skrulls. And Earth is somewhere in the middle of it."
The chamber went silent. The word war hung in the air like a guillotine. Scientists exchanged unsettled glances, a few whispering urgently while others scribbled notes on their pads. Military brass at the back of the room stiffened, their hands instinctively moving closer to their sidearms.
One of the younger analysts finally spoke, voice tight with disbelief.
"Wait... you’re saying there’s a galactic war going on out there? And now Earth’s caught in the middle?"
"Congratulations," Tony said dryly, folding his arms. "We’re officially on the interstellar map. Throw a party later—assuming nobody nukes us into stardust first."
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