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The commotion caused by the Bifrost was massive. Although the people of Xandar prided themselves on being worldly and experienced, most turned a blind eye to it. However, as those in charge, they couldn't afford to ignore it.
In fact, not only did they not ignore it, they took it extremely seriously!
But when they saw Arthur emerge after the Bifrost's descent, that intense tension finally began to dissipate.
Even so, they still immediately sent someone to greet him… No matter what kind of hero he might be, one thing had to be acknowledged: Arthur was dangerous.
And so, his friends must be dangerous too.
No amount of precaution or high-level attention would be considered excessive.
Thus, they acted quickly and sent someone over. And it was an old acquaintance!
"Jeff?" Arthur was a bit surprised when he saw this guy, who always seemed to get the short end of the stick. "It's actually you?"
To be honest, Jeff wasn't particularly thrilled to see Arthur. After all, most of the memories he had involving Arthur were… rather painful.
Whether it was being tossed around in the dark, freezing depths of space or rolling in his own stomach acid, nothing pleasant ever seemed to happen when Arthur was around.
But there was no helping it. Now that the matter had fallen into his lap, he couldn't just shrug it off.
What Arthur didn't know, however, was that, even though Jeff had gained a certain degree of recognition because of his connection to Arthur, he had, in fact, quietly become a marginal figure.
He had spent too much time in close contact with Arthur, and he had also been the initial go-between when Arthur first made contact with Nova Prime. In politics, this kind of thing was extremely sensitive, and Jeff happened to be caught right in the middle of it.
Sure, compared to before, he now had authority and status. But at the same time, his colleagues, and even some of his own people, had begun to quietly distance themselves from him, subtly wary of where his loyalties lay.
Of course, this awkward situation was not something Jeff needed to explain to Arthur. No matter what others thought, he and Arthur had nothing going on between them, just a clean, simple relationship of hostage and captor.
A thousand words condensed into a single resigned sigh: "Nice to see you."
Even someone like T'Challa could tell that this was forced, let alone a seasoned veteran like Coulson.
Arthur didn't take it to heart. He just laughed and clapped Jeff on the shoulder. "Old man, I thought you'd retired by now."
"Even if my species ages faster than most, I'm not that old. Your last departure and this sudden return were less than a month apart!"
"Less than a month?" Arthur paused to think.
'That… sounded about right. More or less.'
'But why did it feel like it had been so much longer?'
After returning to Earth, he went to Wakanda, then Asgard. After hearing about the Venom situation, he came back to investigate. Time slipped by… Then he even held the first official Superhero Alliance meeting and played the part of chairman...
"A lot has happened. In short, it's felt like a year for every day on my end," Arthur said.
"Anyway, since you're here, help us get settled in first. And if Nova Prime has some time, I'd like to request a meeting with her."
"No problem."
This was, after all, part of Jeff's duties. But just when Arthur was about to introduce T'Challa and Coulson to Jeff, He was met with a firm refusal!
"I don't want to form too close a friendship with you, or with any of your people."
Jeff sounded like a sulking child… well, if children could weigh over 200 pounds.
Arthur still didn't take it seriously. He chuckled and chatted along the way, casually explaining things to T'Challa and Coulson.
Eventually, they arrived at their accommodations, which were basically the same place they had stayed last time: clean, orderly, filled with a modern and high-tech aesthetic. The pristine hygiene emphasized the height of this civilization, and within the solemn dignity of the environment, everyone they passed maintained a peculiar, composed demeanor.
Once Jeff had finished arranging the rooms for the three of them, he took his leave.
Now only Coulson, T'Challa, and Arthur remained in the room.
The three exchanged glances. T'Challa rubbed his temples. From Asgard to Xandar, no matter how confident or sincere Arthur had been before, no matter how many video and audio files he'd shown to prove everything was real, he still had held onto a small sliver of doubt.
But now?
Everything was so real, slapped right in his face. Even T'Challa couldn't claim this was just some massive soundstage pretending to be Xandar.
That wouldn't just be an insult to Arthur's intelligence, it would be an insult to his own.
And precisely because of that… if everything Arthur had said up to this point could actually come to pass, then humanity was facing an unimaginably grave crisis.
There was no time to waste, not even a moment.
T'Challa's mind was a complete mess. He felt like he needed time to sort through everything properly.
Coulson, on the other hand, remained calm. He looked at Arthur silently, saying nothing for a long while.
Arthur gave a helpless smile. "If you've got something to say, just say it."
"Too many things…" Coulson replied. "But I don't know which ones you'll actually answer."
"…Some of them, probably," Arthur said with a wry grin.
"For example, why didn't you let SHIELD know I'm still alive?" Coulson asked. "Even if they wouldn't be thrilled about welcoming back a long-dead agent, I think they'd still rather face the reality of a resurrected one. After all, there's a world of difference between the two."
Arthur nodded approvingly. "You're absolutely right. I didn't intend for SHIELD to know you're alive. That's why I sent you straight to Asgard."
"Because there was no way I could contact SHIELD from Asgard," Coulson said with a sigh. "And now this place… sorry, I know nothing about it."
"Xandar," Arthur said. "A high-level civilization in the galaxy. I helped them out with a few things recently, and in return, we struck a deal. We've agreed to establish an information hub here, one that will act as humanity's eyes beyond the stars. But the one who'll serve as the visual cortex of this system… is you."
Coulson was clearly stunned, then suddenly understood. "So that's why you went to all that trouble to bring me back from the brink of death?"
"You should at least know this much, when I first froze your injuries, I hadn't thought this far ahead."
Arthur smiled gently.
"One last question…" Coulson looked up at him. "Why not tell SHIELD about any of this?"
(End of Chapter)