On Earth.
Before making an emergency landing toward the planet, Carol's escape pod took heavy damage when the Skrulls attacked its control panel.
By the time she entered earth's atmosphere, the pod was barely holding together, its structure on the verge of breaking apart.
In the end, it completely fell apart, sending her crashing straight through the ceiling of a Blockbuster store and slamming hard into the floor below.
She groaned, shaking of the impact.
"Where... is this?"
For a brief moment, confusion flickered in Carol's eyes, but clarity soon followed. She recognized this place. C-53. Earth. The planet from her memories—the place where she had grown up.
Yet, despite the familiarity, it felt alien. The stark contrast between Earth's architecture and the advanced structures of Hala, the Kree Empire's capital, made it difficult for her to adjust.
The difference was so overwhelming that when she saw a cardboard advertisement stand, she instinctively reacted. Startled, she raised her hand and fired a photon blast, shattering both the stand and the glass behind it.
Nearby, a security guard who had been approaching to check out the commotion froze as a powerful energy beam shot past his head.
Instantly, he made a decision—this wasn't worth his paycheck. A few thousand dollars a month wasn't nearly enough for him to risk his life for this.
Unfortunately for him, Carol had already noticed him.
She had attempted to use her suit's built-in communicator to contact her Kree squad, but the results were obvious. They weren't even in the same galaxy, and there was no Kree mothership in the solar system to relay a signal. No matter how many times she tried, the communicator remained silent.
Left with no other options, she walked up to the security guard's car and knocked on the window.
"Hello, I am a member of the Kree Starforce. Is this C-53?"
The guard just stared at her, looking completely bewildered.
Carol quickly realized she had asked a dumb question.
A native species with no contact with the Kree wouldn't know their classification system for planets.
After confirming that her universal translator was working correctly, she dropped the small talk and got straight to the point.
"Where can I find this planet's communication devices?"
This time, the guard understood.
He had no idea why this strange woman, dressed in an even stranger outfit and possessing superhuman abilities, was using such an outdated term. But a communication device? That just meant a phone, right?
With a shaky hand, he pointed toward a corner of the building. There, against the wall, stood a… phone booth.
...
Hours later.
Carol spent the entire night working. By sunrise, she had finally managed to modify the primitive Earth phone booth into a makeshift device capable of linking with her Kree battle suit.
Using it, she tapped into Earth's satellite network, attempting to reach her Kree squad across the galaxy.
But just as the signal was about to transmit, heavy static filled the line.
"What's going on? I followed every step in the Kree database. There shouldn't be an issue."
Carol frowned. By all logic, Earth's primitive technology shouldn't even be able to detect Kree interference, let alone block it.
And in most cases, that would be true.
If she had connected to a regular U.S. government satellite, no one would have noticed.
But she hadn't.
To ensure the strongest signal, she had linked directly to the most advanced communications satellite on the planet—the Luthor Communications Satellite, a joint project between LexCorp and Stark Industries.
The moment she breached the system, Lex Luthor, all the way in New York, was instantly alerted. Without hesitation, he cut the transmission right as the satellite was about to send the signal—then inserted himself into the call.
A brief burst of static followed before Luthor's voice came through the line.
"Who are you, and why are you trying to hack my satellite?"
Carol's eyes narrowed.
She had been caught.
"Uh…" She hesitated, before deciding there was no point in lying. "I'm a member of the Kree Starforce. I need to use Earth's satellite to contact my teammates in another galaxy. I hope to get your approval."
If the person on the other end had been an enemy, Carol would have acted immediately. But Earthlings weren't Skrulls, and right now, she needed their satellite.
So she did her best to keep her tone calm while explaining herself to Luthor.
In fact, Luthor had already anticipated this. At this moment, under the protection of 'Martian Manhunter', he was on his way to the depths of the Atlantic Ocean.
The only reason he initiated this conversation was to extract as much information about the Kree Empire as possible from Carol.
He had to seize the opportunity while Carol still had official Kree authorization. Once she inevitably turned against the Empire, she'd lose access to their intelligence database.
"Kree Starforce?" Luthor's voice held amusement. "Don't tell me you're an alien. I'm not a three-year-old."
"But in the Kree Empire, even a three-year-old knows the universe is full of countless species." Carol snapped back, clearly annoyed by his condescending tone.
Luthor, however, acted as if he were actually considering her words.
"Got any proof? You claim you're from Kree Starforce, which means 'Kree' must be a species, right? What evidence do you have that Kree actually exists?"
It was a subtle but well-placed trap. Anyone even slightly perceptive would have noticed it in Luthor's wording.
But Carol wasn't that kind of person. Once she got worked up, she didn't think things through. Right now, all she cared about was proving the Kree were real.
So, without hesitation, she transmitted every piece of Kree Empire data she had clearance to access—sending it all through this tiny phone booth directly to Luthor.
Luthor acted as if he were stunned, remaining silent for a long while before finally speaking.
In reality, though, he could barely suppress the smirk tugging at his lips. If Norman had been this easy to deal with, would Reid have needed two whole years to break him down, piece by piece?
"Alright, I'll admit that some of this data makes a compelling case. As long as you can guarantee your team won't pose a threat to humanity, I'll allow you to use my satellite."
"Don't worry," Carol responded. "Kree Starforce's only target is the Skrulls that have infiltrated Earth. We won't interfere with human affairs."
As soon as Carol finished speaking, she realized Luthor had already cut the call.
She didn't waste any more time. Now that the connection had been secured, she immediately used the LexCorp satellite to send a signal to her team—successfully establishing contact.
"Vers?"
Aboard a Kree starship, Yon-Rogg eyed the holographic projection of Carol with suspicion.
"Confirm identity. CTC39."
"GRX31600. I'm fine. Thank you for asking."
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