Chapter 38

"William Rawlins, otherwise known as the Blacksmith was found dead this morning in his cell. He was scheduled to be put on trial later today." Mikael turned to look at Frank as the news report continue to list off the crimes brought against Rawlins.

"Rawlins didn't do any of those. What did you do?" Frank asked as he sat down at the desk.

"Oh not much. Tweaked the evidence here and there, swapped DNA." Mikael said plainly as he looked at his nails.

"This is why you told me to leave him?" Frank asked as he narrowed his eyes.

"He caused all of this Frank. If it wasn't for him Schoonover wouldn't have become the Blacksmith and Russo would've never betrayed you. It's only fitting he bears the consequences of the criminals he created." Mikael answered as he tapped his fingers on the desk. "He thought of himself as a hero to the country. But instead he died knowing he would be remembered as nothing more than a common criminal."

"How'd you manage to kill him?"

"I didn't. Corruption's a bitch. All I had to do was spread the word that 'The Blacksmith' was going to rat on all of the gangs and dirty cops. And now here we are." Mikael turned off the news and turned to look at Frank.

"What about Bennett?"

"He was sent to the brig after his connection to Rawlins was exposed. But as it so happens he had a tragic little accident during his recreational period. He should really have found a spotter before trying to bench press 200 pounds. Tragic really. Almost as if all of the prisoners suddenly knew what he did to their fallen brothers and sisters." Mikael sipped his coffee as he looked at Frank over the brim of the mug.

"But that's enough of that. What will you do now Frank?"

"What do you mean?" Frank asked as he looked at Mikael in the eyes.

"You're free. Your family's safe, you have a clean slate, you don't have to fight anymore. So what will you do now?"

"Truthfully I don't know. Fighting's become the only thing I really know how to do." Frank answered as he crossed his arms.

"Well why don't you join me then? I have a great deal of objectives I wish to accomplish and I could always use more manpower." Mikael placed his mug down on his desk as he interlocked his fingers in front of him.

"Doing what exactly?" Frank asked with suspicion in his eyes.

"For the moment? Humanitarian efforts, saving lives, hunting criminals, etcetera. Long term? Protecting all of humanity." Mikael answered causing Frank to raise an eyebrow.

"We're not alone in the universe Frank. There are species out there that are several times more advanced than us. Some of them are not friendly and make no mistake Frank, they are coming." Mikael explained.

"What do you say?" Mikael asked with a smile as he held out his hand.

Over the course of the next month several suspected criminal groups around the country were destroyed and those connected to them were exposed to the public. A group of children rescued from a human trafficking ring had even claimed they were saved by a dark knight. As the country began to question the origin of the one called 'Punisher', Frank was spending time with his family in Central Park. Mikael however was seated at his desk as he looked through a stack of papers while giving the occasional sigh.

"Tony Stark, after going missing for nearly three months has just been found in the deserts of Afghanistan. He is scheduled to arrive back in Los Angeles tomorrow." A grin appeared on Mikael's face as he finished looking over the last page of paper.

"Well it's about damn time. Ordis get ready to buy more shares in Stark Industries. Things are about to get busy." Mikael said as he rose to his feet and vanished from his office. Mikael reappeared on board the former celestial ship and began making his way through the new redesigned hallways. He stepped into a large room filled with different medical and research equipment before approaching a new and more advanced geological compressor. He watched as four crystals of different colors, blue, yellow, red and purple, floated inside the sealed chamber.

"Just in time. Everything is coming together. Now let's get you into place, shall we?" Mikael said to himself as he waved his hand and the blue crystal appeared in his palm before he walked out of the room and began making his way to the bridge. Inside was a large table that sat in the middle of the room surrounding by a number of different stations. The central table lit up as Mikael approached before displaying a holographic display of the new triangular design that Mikael used to remodel the ship. A Venator-class star destroyer had been his main inspiration for the hull and frame of the vessel while he modeled the ships internal systems and interface after those of Halo's UNSC supercarriers.

"Sir, all systems are operational and functioning at full capacity." Ordis stated as he appeared next to Mikael on the table.

"How goes the search for Vibranium?" Mikael asked as he looked at the table. The holograms changed to display the current solar system before it zoomed out to show Mikael the whole galaxy.

"A deposit of Vibranium was located in the system designated as TRAPPIST-1 on the planet TRAPPIST-1f." Ordis answered as the table displayed a systems with seven planets in relatively close proximity with one another.

"Perfect. Ordis begin development of sentinel droids. I want at least 4 fully equipped battalions on board by the end of the year. Send one battalion to begin mining the Vibranium."

"As you wish sir."

"Good. Now I have an errand to run." Mikael said as he turned and walked away before vanishing altogether from the room. Shortly after in the middle of the Mojave Desert in Nevada, Mikael reappeared on a small cliff. He looked down at the small base beneath him that consisted of several buildings and an array of satellite dishes before he closed his eyes. He began to project his senses towards the base as he started to feel the life force of every living being on the base. His senses continued to expand until he detected a source that immediately overshadow all others in the area. He smiled as he locked onto the source and began focusing his powers towards it.

Within the base several scientists walked back and forth between different research instruments surrounding a glowing cube that was suspended in a machine. One scientist froze in place before quickly looking towards the cube in the center of the room. His sudden action quickly alerted the other scientists as they watched in shock as sparks appeared around the cube before a beam of energy shot out across the room creating a small dark sphere that began to expand. The guards rushed in front of the scientists and raised their weapons towards the strange anomaly. The sphere suddenly exploded with a wave of energy that washed over the room and tossed all of the loose objects through the air.

As everyone in the room recovered from the event they noticed an armored figure kneeling where the sphere had erupted. The figure rose to stand at a towering eight feet tall revealing his blue skin, respirator and purple eyes. One of the scientist froze as she looked at the figure standing across the room.

"Kree." The scientist whispered as his eyes locked onto the triangular logo on the shoulder of the figure before he rushed to press a red button on the wall. Alarms immediately sounded throughout the facility as he ducked out of the room and into the hallway.

{A/N: not sure how to really describe the Kree logo so here you go}

"Freeze! Don't move!" The guards yelled out as they moved to surround the figure.

"Give me the Tesseract and your world may be given a place in our empire. Refuse and our armies will take it by force." The figure stated as he stepped forward. The guards opened fire as the figure sprinted into motion, avoiding the incoming fire before grabbing and throwing one guard into another. The figure quickly dashed between each of the guards as he tossed them around the room.

As the last guard fell unconscious against a wall the figure turned and began walking towards the Tesseract. The figure had only made it halfway when a grenade flew through the air and impacted against his chest. The ensuing explosion threw the figure back across the room before he slammed into a pillar. The figure picked himself off the ground and growled at the blonde haired women that stepped into the room with a grenade launcher. She aimed the weapon at the figure and fired again, forcing the figure to dodge the projectile. He began sprinting at the women at high speed and leaped towards her, dodging another grenade in the process. As he began to descend in her direction an arrow suddenly appeared in front of his face and exploded, throwing the figure back across the room. He tumbled along the ground before fighting himself, sparks flying from his boots as he slid along the floor. The figure looked haggard, his respirator broken and face burned.

"This isn't over. We will have our prize… And your heads." The figure growled as he pressed a button on his belt. A similar sphere from before grew behind the figure before he was suddenly pulled in by an invisible force and disappeared along with it. The scientist peeked back into the room as a brown haired man carrying a bow walked into the room. He pulled phone and quickly dialed a number in a panic. In seconds the call was answered and Fury's distinct voice questioned the man.

"What is it Talos?"

"We have a problem." The scientist responded as he looked into the room again. As the scientist began to inform Fury of the situation and the two agents went around checking the guards, they were unaware that inside the Tesseract rested a blue gem-like object. They were also unaware that there was now an additional blue crystal that drifted into place next to the gem. Small threads of energy flowed from the blue gem into the crystal that was slowly beginning to change its appearance until eventually it was visually indistinguishable from the blue gem.

Mikael's eyes opened and a smile appeared on his face as he felt the changes taking place inside the Tesseract. He looked towards the base as dozens of armed guards rushed back and forth looking for an intruder.

'Wonder how the security will be when Loki comes?' Mikael asked himself as he turned and walked away from the base before disappearing from the cliff.

{A/N: I've begun to write the first chapters of the other fanfic so you can look out for that in the next week or so. Though I'd go ahead and ask before I get to far into writing it, should I incorporate any other fictions into that universe? Like crossover wise? I've been seeing a couple of those around and some of them were pretty interesting.

The other fanfic is going to be a bit more gradual in terms of power growth, the new MC won't be op from the start and will gradually become stronger through his own efforts. Yes there's a system but the system itself won't make him powerful. It's more of a tool that he himself has to make the most of. Like a library.}