Just as Jessica and Gwen were walking out of the store, two figures suddenly crashed down from the sky in front of them.
One was a man glowing with golden light, and the other radiated a silvery-white glow.
Jessica recognized both of them.
One was the Silver Surfer, who had once visited Earth, and the other was Rick Jones.
But before Jessica could ask what had happened, a massive mechanical insect suddenly appeared in the sky.
"My God, what kind of trouble have you gotten yourselves into?"Jessica stared at the giant insect in the sky, voicing her confusion to Rick Jones and the others.
Jessica was certain this thing wasn't from Earth—there was no record of such a creature in any of the S.H.I.E.L.D. files she had access to.
"This can't be happening."Rick Jones looked horrified at the insect's appearance.
He had personally witnessed the Kree using a chain reaction to destroy an entire star system.
Yet even with that kind of explosion and energy, they couldn't completely wipe these things out?
Seeing Rick Jones in that state, Jessica realized it was useless to expect him to explain where these creatures were coming from.
At that moment, Jessica began preparing for a counterattack, while Gwen was already trying to contact Bruce.
"I think now would be a good time to call that old bat,"Jessica said to Gwen, who turned to glance at her.
"Fine, I knew you'd turn traitor,"Gwen replied.
Jessica pouted. She never should've placed her trust in Gwen.
This little sneak had probably signaled Bruce the moment they suited up.
Let alone now.
The sudden appearance of the insect over New York City drew the attention of nearly everyone, including S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Ultimates.
Even someone who had stayed out of the chaos until now reappeared before the public.
Captain Marvel, who had long protected Earth, now donned her battle armor and sped toward New York.
At this moment, the Ultimates had almost fully assembled in New York City, cautiously confronting the massive mechanical insect.
Bruce's Batwing also appeared in the sky, though he didn't launch an immediate attack.
"There really are more and more bizarre things showing up in the world these days,"Captain America said helplessly as he looked at the creature in the sky.
"I've gotten used to it, Cap. This world's always full of freaks and geniuses,"Stark replied, seemingly unfazed by the insect's sudden appearance.
He had long since learned to stay calm and unshaken by anything that happened on Earth.
"So what are we waiting for?"
With that from Captain America, the Ultimates immediately charged toward the enormous mechanical insect.
Meanwhile, aboard Alpha One, Monica was searching through S.H.I.E.L.D. databases for any information related to the creature.
Nick Fury, who hadn't yet boarded the aircraft, rushed into the command center and stood before Monica.
"Did one of those bugs make it to Earth?"Nick Fury asked Monica directly.
Monica nodded. At this point, it was no longer a secret—everyone knew. There was no way to hide it now.
"Then listen to me. Begin a deep-space scan and check if more of those mechanical insects are headed for Earth,"Nick Fury ordered Monica.
Though Monica was the current S.H.I.E.L.D. director, Nick Fury's past authority still carried great weight.
Besides, Monica truly had no idea what those things were.
Naturally, she followed Nick Fury's lead.
After issuing the order, Monica turned to Nick Fury, wanting to ask what was really going on.
Nick Fury had never been this nervous before.
What the hell had happened?
"I think you'd better explain the current situation,"Bruce's voice suddenly came from Alpha One's command center. He needed to know everything.
Even before questioning Nick Fury, Bruce had already scanned the mechanical insect using the Batwing and cross-referenced it with S.H.I.E.L.D.'s database.
Sure enough, he had found some clues.
Though the related files had been deliberately deleted and repeatedly scrubbed, faint traces still remained—enough for Bruce to uncover.
What he learned was that the people involved in that operation included the now-deceased Professor X, Charles Xavier, and Reed Richards, who was currently imprisoned in the Cube.
The operation had been initiated by none other than Nick Fury.
And the source of the intrusion had been a super-robot known as Vision.
"That thing came to Earth once before, but we scared it off,"Nick Fury said, knowing full well what he needed to do now—he had to lay everything on the table.
"I'm sure you already know about Vision,"
Nick Fury didn't believe Bruce could be unaware of Vision's existence.
Bruce didn't respond, so Fury continued.
"Over a hundred years ago, Vision—an alien construct designed to warn civilizations of incoming Star-Eaters—crash-landed on Earth. Originally, she was supposed to alert us to their invasion. But her ship malfunctioned in low orbit and crashed."
"We only managed to fully recover her a few years ago. That's when she told us about the Star-Eaters."
"But at the time, there was less than a week before the invasion. I contacted Professor X and his student Jean Grey, and brought in Reed Richards to devise a countermeasure."
"In the end, we detonated a newly born universe to make the insects give up on Earth. But the bugs we repelled back then seem quite different from the ones we're seeing now."
Nick Fury stared at the insect now projected on the big screen, his gaze intense and serious.
"I understand,"Bruce said and then cut the communication.
At the same time, a message arrived from S.H.I.E.L.D.—there was no sign of a massive swarm of Star-Eaters in Earth's outer space.
It seemed that the mechanical creature that appeared over New York City had merely lost its way by accident. However, Bruce knew very well that its arrival was definitely connected to those two individuals on the ground.
"Motherfucker!" Stark shouted furiously.
Despite his attack, the creature wasn't harmed in the slightest. In fact, it had begun to grow larger.
What was originally a creature only a dozen meters long had now expanded to several dozen meters.
At that moment, Thor had already taken to the skies, summoning lightning and striking the creature with full force.
But when the dazzling bolt of lightning faded, they didn't see the creature's charred remains—instead, it had grown even larger.
The mechanical creature was now nearly 100 meters long.
If they still couldn't figure out what this creature fed on, the Ultimate Team might as well disband.
But the problem was—if they couldn't use energy-based attacks, how were they supposed to deal with this thing?
Before they could come up with a solution, a figure suddenly appeared beside them.
It was Captain Marvel, clad in battle armor. At this moment, he had formed an enormous energy cannon aimed directly at the creature.
"No, no, no!"
Stark tried to stop Captain Marvel, but he was a step too late—Marvel had already pulled the trigger and blasted the creature.
The massive energy beam instantly struck the Star-Eater, hitting it dead-on.
Before Stark could even begin to criticize Captain Marvel's actions, they saw the Star-Eater shattered into pieces under the overwhelming force, its remains falling to the ground.
The creature could indeed absorb energy to grow stronger, but it clearly had a limit to how much energy it could take in.
The energy blast just fired by Captain Marvel had evidently surpassed that limit.
Back on the ground, Rick Jones and the Silver Surfer had also recovered. They looked up at the gathering of superheroes in the sky.
Rick Jones was momentarily at a loss.
"I think you'd better explain what exactly happened," Bruce said, jumping down from his bat wings and landing steadily next to Rick Jones and the others.
As for Jessica and Gwen, Bruce merely glanced at them without saying a word.
Jessica, of course, noticed Bruce's gaze, but she was still upset and turned her head away in silence.
"You're Batman?"
Rick Jones looked at Bruce in surprise. He remembered that when he left Earth, Batman was still just a fictional character from comic books. Was Batman now real in this world too?
"What you need to do now is tell us the truth—not ask about my identity," Bruce said, snapping Rick Jones back to his senses.
"We were originally on the battlefield between the Kree and the Chitauri when the Star-Eaters launched an attack on both fleets."
"But right then, we sensed a massive energy surge—I felt like I saw countless versions of myself."
At this point, Rick Jones vividly recalled the figures he had seen, each wearing different uniforms.
The pain they shared was unforgettable—etched into his memory forever.
"Then, we saw a huge purple figure appear out of nowhere on the battlefield."
"The Star-Eaters immediately stopped attacking the fleets and lunged toward that purple figure, as if it had an energy they preferred."
"But the strange thing was—the purple figure wasn't devoured. Instead, it seemed to completely take control of the Star-Eater swarm."
"The Star-Eaters were no longer the same. They transformed to resemble that purple figure—the same form as the creature you just dealt with."
Rick Jones explained everything he knew to Bruce without leaving anything out.
The other members of the Ultimate Team had gathered around Bruce as Rick spoke. When they heard about the purple figure, they couldn't help but feel shocked.
After all, what kind of being could so easily dominate a swarm that fed on energy?
Rick Jones' words were also transmitted in real-time to Alpha One. Upon hearing them, the furrows on Nick Fury's brow deepened even further.
He clearly remembered what Vision had once told them—no one could control the Star-Eater swarm, and no one could oppose them.
And yet, now a figure capable of doing just that had emerged.
This completely shattered everything they thought they knew.
"Looks like we need to have a serious discussion," said Captain America, looking up at Bruce.
"I need to take them back," Captain Marvel interjected, clearly thinking that he, Rick Jones, and the Silver Surfer were enough to handle the threat.
But just then, Rick Jones stood up, his face filled with fear as he looked at Captain Marvel.
"I can't do it. I can't destroy that thing. It's far too terrifying."
As he spoke, a golden portal opened behind him. The guy clearly intended to escape this chaos.
"So you're just going to run away? Maybe the Watchers aren't as wise as we thought."
"I'm truly sorry."
Rick Jones apologized to Captain Marvel, glanced at the departing members of the Ultimate Team, and stepped into the portal he had created.
Watching Rick Jones vanish completely, Captain Marvel was at a loss for words. He could only turn his gaze to the Silver Surfer beside him.
Meanwhile, back at his home, Rick Jones found something unexpected—a statue had been erected not far from his house.
As he approached, he saw that it was a statue of Spider-Man, surrounded by wreaths, candles, and Spider-Man toys in mourning.
But what truly caught Rick Jones' attention was the photo embedded in the statue's base.
"Peter Parker… was Spider-Man?"
(End of Chapter)
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