The matter with Wanda and Storm had been settled somewhat, Elric reflected as he sat through the tedious economic planning meeting. Though "settled" might be too generous a word for the precarious balance they'd achieved.
In his previous life on Earth, while binging cultivation novels and harem fantasy stories during late nights, he'd watched protagonists effortlessly juggle multiple heroines. The women would just jump onto the dense MC's arm like flies drawn to light—willing, eager, accepting of each other without real conflict.
So his perception had gotten twisted over years of consuming that fiction. Somewhere along the way, he'd started thinking that since this was also a fictional world, maybe it operated on similar convenient rules.
He could do the same, right? Have multiple partners who would just... work it out among themselves?
But somehow, he'd completely ignored all his previous real-life experience. Back on original Earth, just looking at another girl for too long would get an eye roll from his girlfriend. Sometimes worse than an eye roll.
After experiencing the absolute cat fight last night—where Wanda had literally almost bitten his ear clean off during a heated argument about sleeping arrangements and "fair time distribution"—he'd been forcefully reminded that reality didn't follow novel logic.
He shivered involuntarily at the memory, his hand unconsciously reaching up to touch his still-healing earlobe. The teeth marks were fading thanks to his enhanced healing, but the psychological damage remained fresh.
No. Although little brother wanted to gallivant through this world experiencing a thousand different romantic encounters, he really needed to exercise more self-control.
He couldn't help his attraction to strong, beautiful women.
Leaning back in his uncomfortable conference room chair, only half-listening to Magneto's detailed breakdown of proposed trade agreements, Elric's mind drifted to another complication.
There was another crazy woman waiting for him. One potentially even more dangerous than the two he was currently juggling.
Hela.
Although the Goddess of Death likely already knew that he'd arrived back in his proper timeline, he still hadn't recalled his clone from the past yet.
But the moment he recalled that clone, the instant he absorbed its centuries of accumulated memories and knowledge, it would be a direct message to present-day Hela. A signal flare announcing: I'm back. Mission accomplished. You can contact me now.
And that was... complicated.
He couldn't stall it for too long either. Who knew what that crazy goddess would do if she felt ignored or deliberately avoided? Hela wasn't known for patience or understanding when she felt slighted.
After living with past-Hela for three years, he'd certainly gotten to know her quite well. Her moods, her triggers, what made her laugh, what made her want to murder everything in sight. They'd developed an odd friendship born from proximity and shared experiences.
But the Hela he'd befriended in the past and the Hela he'd briefly met before she'd sent him back through time were quite different people. Three thousand years of additional experiences separated them.
The past-Hela had been younger, more volatile but also more genuine in some ways. The present-Hela was... harder to read. More calculating. More dangerous.
What ever... Elric thought, pushing the worry aside. I'll deal with it when it comes. No point in borrowing trouble.
But before he could continue that train of thought or refocus on the meeting discussion, a familiar voice suddenly interrupted through his neural link.
Boss, I found something interesting.
Aline's tone carried that specific quality that made Elric's attention snap into focus immediately.
When his AI called something "interesting" rather than "important" or "urgent," it meant she'd discovered something with high personal relevance to him. Something that aligned with his goals or threatened them directly. She'd learned to categorize information precisely over the years.
This required immediate attention.
"Guys," Elric said abruptly, sitting up and cutting off Magneto mid-sentence about agricultural subsidies. "Okay, that's enough for today. We're not in a hurry with any of this. Let's continue our discussion tomorrow when we're all fresher and can give it proper attention."
After hearing Elric's clear dismissal, everyone began gathering their papers and files. Magneto looked mildly annoyed at being interrupted during what he clearly felt was an important point, but said nothing.
Anastasia gave Elric a questioning look from across the table, one eyebrow raised. He answered with a small subtle headshake—later, I'll explain if relevant.
She nodded understanding and gathered her things.
Within minutes, the room had emptied. Storm paused at the door, glancing back at him with concern in her striking white eyes.
"Everything okay?" she asked quietly.
"Work stuff," Elric replied vaguely. "Possibly important. I'll fill you in later if it affects us."
She accepted that with a nod and left. Wanda, who'd been hovering near the door waiting for Storm to leave first—their ongoing subtle competition playing out even in small moments like this—gave him her own questioning look.
"Go," Elric said gently. "I'll see you tonight."
That earned him a small smile before she slipped out, the door clicking shut behind her.
Alone in the conference room, Elric allowed his casual expression to drop, replaced by focused intensity.
"Alright, Aline. What is it?"
"Watch this, boss."
The large display screen mounted on the wall flickered to life. Video footage began playing—crystal clear quality despite obviously being recorded covertly. The AI had really refined her surveillance capabilities.
The scene showed what appeared to be a command center or strategic base. Alien technology lined the metallic walls, surfaces pulsing with soft bioluminescent light in shades of green and blue. Definitely not human construction.
"Are you sure about this?"
In the screen, a green-skinned humanoid was speaking into a small communication device. His features were distinctly non-human—elongated skull, large dark eyes, sharp angular chin, slight ridges along his cheekbones.
Skrull. Definitely Skrull.
The voice that responded through the device was distorted, likely scrambled for security, but still clearly audible. Cold. Confident. Commanding.
"Who are you doubting? This plan comes from the Mad Titan himself. His word is law. His promises are absolute."
Mad Titan. There was only one being in the universe who carried that title.
Thanos.
"You just need to attack an Asgardian ship," the voice continued. "While maintaining human form, of course. Use your shapeshifting capabilities to disguise your forces as human vessels."
"Asgard will likely send diplomatic envoys to negotiate after the attack," the distorted voice explained. "After all, they'll want to understand why humans suddenly possess the capability and audacity to threaten their vessels."
"You just need to kill those Asgardian negotiators when they arrive," the voice said. "Then take their places using your shapeshifting abilities. Infiltrate their diplomatic mission perfectly."
"After that, while wearing their faces and using their identities, you will declare war on Earth," the voice continued. "The justification will be that Earth is sheltering criminals and fugitives from Asgard. Frame it as the Nine Realms enforcing cosmic law against a primitive world harboring dangerous outlaws."
The green-skinned Skrull fell into deep thought, clearly weighing the considerable risks against whatever rewards had been promised. His elongated fingers drummed against the console in front of him—a nervous gesture that translated across species.
After a long moment of tense silence, he spoke.
"Yes, I can do that," he said slowly, reluctantly. "My forces are capable of the infiltration and replacement. We've done similar operations before."
"But," he continued, his tone carrying skepticism, "according to my knowledge of Asgardian operational patterns, their ships rarely travel through normal space, let alone anywhere close to Earth's solar system. They use the Bifrost most of the time. How are we supposed to intercept a vessel that never enters our operational theater?"
"You don't need to think about that," the voice from the other side interrupted smoothly, dismissively. "That particular problem is not your concern. The logistics are being handled at a higher level."
"When the time comes, I will inform you of the exact location and timing," the voice assured him. "Precise coordinates, detailed schedules, weak points in their route—everything you need for a successful interception will be provided."
"Anyway, you should begin preparations now," the voice added with clear authority. "Assemble your strike force. Make sure you have enough ships and soldiers ready to make the attack appear credible. This needs to look like a legitimate military threat from Earth, not some minor pirate raid that Asgard can brush off."
Silence hung heavy in the communication channel for several seconds.
Then the screen went completely blank, the video ending abruptly.
Elric stared at the dark display, his enhanced mind already racing through implications and connections at superhuman speed.
"Where did you get this footage, Aline?" he asked.
"Boss, approximately three weeks ago, you instructed me to monitor for any Skrull presence or activity on Earth," Aline explained, her synthetic voice precise as always. "To track their movements, analyze their communications, map their network."
"While I'd already located several of their bases scattered around the planet—underground facilities, disguised installations, hidden outposts—it proved extremely difficult to send surveillance drones or hack their technology without triggering their detection systems," she continued. "Skrull security protocols are quite sophisticated. They can sense most forms of electronic surveillance and have countermeasures against conventional hacking."
"Finally, yesterday, I identified and exploited a vulnerability in one of their smaller outposts," Aline said with what might have been pride if AIs could feel such things. "A flaw in their sensor grid's refresh cycle. I managed to infiltrate microscopic cameras during a brief detection gap."
"The Skrull in the video is identified as Kl'rt," Aline added, pulling up a side screen with biographical data. "One of the senior leaders of the Skrull Royalist faction. The political group that opposes their current arrangement working covertly with Fury and SHIELD. They want to restore their empire to its former glory rather than hide among humans like refugees."
Elric absorbed this information, his tactical mind already building threat assessments.
The Mad Titan meant Thanos, without question. And he was orchestrating something involving Asgard—using the Skrulls as pawns to create an interstellar incident.
But why? What did Thanos gain from provoking a war between Asgard and Earth?
"Is this old footage or was it recorded recently?" Elric asked sharply.
"No, boss, I recorded this video yesterday myself using the microscopic cameras I successfully infiltrated into their base," Aline confirmed. "Their facility naturally doesn't maintain internal surveillance cameras. So I had to plant my own monitoring equipment."
"It took approximately fourteen hours to sort through all the accumulated video data from surveillance cameras, analyzing everything for relevance and threat assessment," she added. "That's why the delay in reporting. I wanted to verify authenticity and context before bringing it to your attention."
"Good work," Elric said absently, still processing implications. "Okay, Aline, shift this incident to the highest priority classification immediately. Dedicated monitoring. Keep close surveillance on all known Skrull positions—all bases, all communications, all suspected operatives."
"I want real-time updates on any movements, any preparations, any hint they're mobilizing for this operation," he continued. "If they sneeze, I want to know about it."
"Understood, boss," Aline replied. "Increasing surveillance protocols to maximum. Allocating additional processing power to pattern recognition and threat assessment for Skrull-related activities."
Asgard.
It seemed he would have to meet with Hela much sooner than he'd anticipated or wanted.
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