To seek peace through struggle is to ensure peace survives.
A ruthless schemer like Loki would seize any opportunity to invade Earth. If they wanted to stop him, the first line of defense was obvious: put Thor back on the throne.
If Thor was King, Loki couldn't mobilize Asgard's armies. He'd just be one guy causing trouble—annoying, but manageable.
But right now? Right now, Earth needed to show its teeth.
Fury didn't know how a nuclear weapon ranked on the cosmic scale. Maybe to advanced aliens, it was a firecracker. But it was the biggest stick humanity had.
If they weren't on American soil, Fury would have happily dropped a Tsar Bomba on the Destroyer. Not just to kill it, but to make a statement.
To scare Loki.
To let him know that Earthlings were crazy enough—and capable enough—to drag him down to hell with them.
This was the same logic behind the Avengers Initiative. When facing cosmic civilizations, winning a clean war was impossible. The best humanity could hope for was Mutually Assured Destruction.
Kill a thousand enemies, lose ten thousand soldiers.
It wasn't a good trade. But what other choice did they have?
If they couldn't stop the Destroyer—if they couldn't make Loki realize that Earth wasn't just a primitive tribe he could bully—then humanity was doomed. They had to take a bite out of him. Make him bleed. Make him think twice.
Suddenly, a blur of motion tore through the battlefield.
A figure streaked across the desert like a meteor, slamming into the fray.
"Who is that? Why is he so... ferocious?" Coulson asked, blinking.
He almost quoted that famous line from the Chinese dramas he'd been watching lately: "Whose general is this? How can he be so fierce?"
The figure didn't stop. It rammed straight into the unstoppable Destroyer, knocking the metal giant off its feet and sending it skidding across the sand.
"That's... Superman? Lucas?"
Tony Stark, who had just managed to retreat to a safe distance, zoomed in with his HUD.
Sure enough, floating in the dust cloud was a man in a t-shirt and casual pants.
Lucas.
"Yes, Sir. Facial recognition confirms it," J.A.R.V.I.S. replied.
"Thank god he's here. Otherwise, we'd be in serious trouble," Tony muttered, letting out a breath.
Privately, Tony was already designing the Anti-Superman Armor. He was paranoid that one day, Lucas might turn against them.
But right now? Seeing Lucas on their side was the best thing that could have happened. Because Lucas's strength was undeniable.
Fury recognized him too, and his shoulders slumped in relief.
But then, doubt crept in.
In Fury's files, "Superman" was just a street-level hero. He stopped muggers, caught thieves. Could a guy who beat up street thugs really handle a god-killing weapon like the Destroyer?
Could he solve a crisis of this magnitude?
The answer came a second later.
The Destroyer, recovering from the hit, unleashed a blast of its annihilation beam—the same beam that had nearly melted Tony's suit in seconds.
Lucas didn't dodge.
He just snorted and stood his ground.
BOOM!
The orange beam slammed into Lucas's chest... and did nothing.
It splashed against his bio-electric field like water off a duck's back. Not a burn. Not a scratch. He didn't even flinch.
Lucas nodded to himself, satisfied.
He had joined the fight to save people, sure. But the main reason? He wanted to test his limits. He wanted to know exactly how strong his "Superman Physique" had become after a month of sun-dipping.
So he tanked the shot on purpose.
If it doesn't kill me, the sun will heal me.
Now that he knew he could take the hit, Lucas grinned. He launched himself forward, intercepting the Destroyer in mid-air.
BOOM!
CRACK!
THUD!
The desert echoed with the sound of meat hitting metal. But the metal was losing.
"This..." Hawkeye lowered his bow, staring in shock. "Is that... is that even human?"
"Humans can... probably do that... right?" Coulson stammered.
He watched Lucas trade blows with the Destroyer. Punch for punch. The sound of fists denting enchanted Uru metal rang out like gongs.
Is that human?
"Obviously not," Fury said, his single eye wide.
His mind was racing, updating the "Superman" file in real-time.
Flight capability: Supersonic. Creates sonic booms effortlessly.
Durability: Absurd. Tanked a beam that vaporized a squad and melted Stark's armor. Took zero damage. More durable than Thor.
Even Thor needed armor to fight the Destroyer. Lucas was doing it in a t-shirt.
Strength: Punch force estimated at 50+ tons. He's denting the armor. He's physically deforming Asgardian metal.
Tony's repulsors hadn't left a scratch. Thor's lightning hadn't pierced it. But Lucas's fists were treating the Destroyer like scrap metal.
The gap in power was terrifying.
"Superman," Fury whispered. "The name fits. Beyond human."
The data in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s database was woefully outdated. Either Lucas had been hiding his true strength before, or he had grown exponentially stronger in just one month.
If he kept growing at this rate...
And he was a transmigrator from outside the Fourth Wall. Did he have any loyalty to this Earth?
Fury felt a headache building.
Lucas was a nuclear deterrent that walked and talked. If used well, he was Earth's greatest asset. If used poorly? He was a bigger threat than Loki.
Especially since Lucas knew the secrets of the universe—things even the "Inner World" didn't know.
If a man like that turned evil, the world was finished.
"Let's hope he stays on our side," Fury thought.
Then he looked back at the fight. Lucas was pinning the Destroyer to the ground, pounding it into submission.
Despite his fears, Fury couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement.
Get him.