October in New York was dry, with little rain. The sky, as always, was clear.
Lyon, as always, sat on the open-air balcony cultivating. Using the Time and Space Stones as mediums, he immersed himself in the ocean of cosmic laws, every cell in his body rejoicing under the sunlight.
Suddenly, he sensed something. Interrupting his cultivation, he opened his eyes.
A streak of light flew in from Manhattan and, in the blink of an eye, hovered just beyond the balcony railing. Within the glow, a figure appeared.
Golden hair floated in the air like a jellyfish drifting in the sea. The square face was all too familiar.
Wasn't that Carol—mockingly nicknamed "Karen Marvel"?
Lyon recognized her at once.
He wasn't particularly surprised. The Skrulls had already been driven off Earth—if Captain Marvel hadn't returned by now, that would've been the real surprise.
In his impression, Captain Marvel was a lot like a certain type of international environmentalist—people who hadn't even sorted out their own problems at home before rushing off to interfere in other places. And often, their interference wasn't even for the better.
With the Skrulls now homeless, of course she would want to get involved.
Although Carol was a superhero active throughout the universe, the reputation she held among other civilizations could only be described as mixed.
She had indeed helped many people, but under the banner of "aid," the damage she'd caused was equally significant.
Take, for instance, the Kree Empire—one of the great empires of the cosmos.
After Captain Marvel, in the name of liberating the Kree people on the planet Hala, destroyed the Supreme Intelligence that governed the empire, the Kree quickly descended into civil war.
That once-glorious empire has since fallen into decline.
Its people are now suffering terribly. Even the sun that once illuminated their homeworld has gone dark.
Among the Kree, she is now widely known as "the Annihilator."
These associations instantly surfaced in Lyon's mind the moment he saw Captain Marvel.
Not because he had an especially vivid imagination, but because, for some reason, Carol was simply hovering outside his balcony, silently observing him without saying a word.
It was hard not to let his mind wander.
After a few more seconds of silence, Lyon couldn't help but speak first. "You're here for the Skrulls, aren't you?"
"Huh? Yes! That's right." Carol suddenly snapped out of it—she had actually been staring at Lyon in a daze!
She silently cursed herself.
According to the plan she'd thought up beforehand, she was supposed to start with a few provocative remarks after meeting Superman, then take him somewhere under surveillance and give him a solid beating. Only after the fight would they "turn enemies into allies."
But unexpectedly—
With just a single glance, she couldn't look away.
At first glance, Superman didn't look much different from the photos she'd seen at Nick Fury's.
But up close, the difference was obvious.
He was a very handsome man, with defined and striking features. He sat shirtless on the balcony, revealing sculpted, statue-like muscles.
The sunlight seemed to cheer as it bathed his body.
A soft, dazzling golden glow shimmered along the curves of his muscles, making him look both like the sunny boy next door and a figure out of myth—like an incarnation of Hercules or Apollo.
Carol had seen countless handsome men of various races across the universe.
She had even received a proposal from a king who ruled an entire planet, asking her to become his queen.
But someone like the Superman standing before her—she had truly never encountered anyone quite like him.
Especially because there seemed to be a faint, indistinct energy emanating from him—something familiar, something that made her feel inexplicably close to him.
It left her momentarily stunned, nearly forgetting why she had even come.
It wasn't until Lyon spoke that Carol snapped out of it.
"You've got the wrong guy. If you want the Skrulls to stay, don't bother talking to me. The entire human race is trying to drive them out. You should be speaking to all of them."
Lyon, unaware that his looks—and more importantly, the energy from the Space Stone within him—had just dazzled Captain Marvel, was actually thinking about whether he could provoke her a little and then use that as an excuse to start a fight.
His previous battle with Dormammu had left a deep impression on him.
So much so that over a month had passed, and with no worthy opponent, he actually found himself missing Dormammu a bit... ehm..
Unfortunately, that guy only had Strange in his heart—there was no way he'd come looking for Lyon.
Now that Captain Marvel had shown up at his door, it was the perfect chance to stretch his muscles a little.
"Oh really?" Carol narrowed her eyes.
Lyon's indifferent tone had brought her back to her senses.
She had dealt with many powerful beings across the universe.
So what if they had a cold attitude?
No matter how arrogant they were, once she defeated them, they always became warm and welcoming.
And the Superman before her would be no exception!
With a smile, Carol twisted her wrists. "Rather than explain myself to everyone, I think beating you in front of everyone would be much more convincing."
"Heh~ So you're saying you want to challenge me? You're going to fight for the Skrulls?" A flicker of light seemed to flash in the depths of Lyon's eyes.
"Not a challenge—I'm going to defeat you!"
Ever since fully awakening her extraordinary powers, Carol had grown used to speaking with strength.
Her aura became sharp and imposing. "And I'm not fighting for the Skrulls—I'm fighting for justice!"
"Ha~ Justice? Defined by you?" Lyon smiled, noncommittal.
He stood up, and the Dormammu Buster battle suit emerged on its own, a pitch-black uniform enveloping his body.
"Jarvis, you heard that. Let the whole world see how this auntie plans to fight for justice."
"Yes, Young Master Lyon. I've activated all available satellites," Jarvis's voice replied.
Carol's expression darkened. "Wait a second—what did you just call me? Auntie?"
"Isn't that what you are?" Lyon gave her a curious look—then suddenly shot into the sky, disappearing into the clouds.
"Auntie? Very well! You arrogant brat, I'll show you what true power in the universe looks like!" Carol was both embarrassed and irritated.
Her entire body erupted with surging photon energy. Every strand of her hair floated, wrapped in radiant force, as she shot up in pursuit of Lyon.
The two of them finally came to a halt in the stratosphere, about thirty kilometers above the Earth.
Beneath their feet, neatly aligned clouds flowed like tofu blocks, reflecting piercing, razor-sharp sunlight—mirroring the tension between the two.
Lyon's arms hung loosely at his sides. "You've got a stronger combat mode, don't you? Just use it already. As you are now, you're too weak."
"You actually know about Binary Mode? Hmph, too bad—I don't need it to deal with you!"
It had been many years since Carol encountered an opponent as outrageously cocky as Lyon.
Talos had mentioned that Superman could withstand a nuclear bomb, but she hadn't taken it seriously.
Strong defense didn't necessarily mean strong combat ability!
There were plenty of high-defense, low-offense species in the universe.
She had yet to meet a true rival in the vast cosmos—how could she possibly suffer defeat on a remote little planet like Earth?
Carol surged forward, her entire body wrapped in energy as she charged at Lyon.
Her iron fist tore through the air, carrying the sonic boom of a supersonic strike. Surrounded by blazing power, it aimed straight for Lyon's face.
Lyon let out a sigh.
A punch this soft didn't even stir his desire to fight.
Boom!
His eyes lit up with a crimson glow, and twin beams of heat vision split the sky in two as they shot straight toward Carol.
Caught completely off guard, Carol was struck head-on.
The searing beams nearly pierced through her chest in an instant.
There wasn't even time to react.
Her life signs plunged to critical levels, triggering her body's automatic defense response—the Binary Mode activated on its own.
Her once-unstoppable figure was immediately blasted backward by the heat vision.
A scream tore through the cloud layer, and the excruciating pain echoed far and wide in her voice.
"Aaah!!"
After plummeting several kilometers, Carol finally roared in fury, using photon energy to forcefully push the heat vision back.
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