Two beams of light—one gold, the other multicolored—streaked toward each other from opposite ends of the sky. Their sudden appearance in the clear heavens drew countless gazes upward. In the devastated streets of New York, people froze, their faces etched with shock and fear once more.
It wasn't until they glimpsed the shadow of the divine dragon that a collective sigh of relief rippled through the crowd. As Dragon Power erupted in waves around Hong Fei, his speed surged violently. The energy shielded him from the howling gale, but the friction at his tip ignited flames that trailed behind him.
In the blink of an eye, the two light pillars collided. Boom!! The impact sent a deep, resonant sound echoing across the sky. For a moment, the space within a radius of thousands of meters trembled violently, like an invisible bubble expanding and distorting reality.
The tension stretched the air, making everything appear to sway briefly. Then, brilliant energies of every color exploded outward from the epicenter. As they intertwined, they sparked and reacted like oil on fire. Streaks of light fractured into countless points, painting the sky in an instant.
The shockwave finally reached the city, a gale sweeping upward with such force it threatened to flatten anyone caught in its path. Dragon Flags planted throughout the city snapped violently in the wind. High above, the two combatants recoiled from the collision. Carol hovered, her suit radiating vibrant energy.
Her brow furrowed as she stared intently at the figure across from her. Hong Fei stood steady in the sky, his dark-gold dragon-patterned armor gleaming. The Ten Rings encircling his forearms tightened inward, their golden-red Dragon Power swirling behind him, forming the shape of a churning divine dragon.
"Who are you?" Carol demanded, her voice sharp.
Hong Fei studied her face, his expression unreadable. Words felt pointless now. His mind was made up—this would be settled with power, not talk. Slowly, he raised his arms, clenching his fists. The Ten Rings on his forearms began to rotate, their intricate patterns glowing with Dragon Power.
Golden light spread outward, and soon the Rings shone with such intensity they seemed forged from pure light. Carol's frown deepened. She clenched her own fists, her energy surging in response. Without warning, Hong Fei moved. A flash of golden light marked his sudden attack.
Carol reacted instantly, meeting him head-on. Their clash sent shockwaves through the air. On the ground, Sif craned her neck, watching as bursts of light flared and faded across the sky. The two figures darted from one corner of the heavens to another, their collisions scattering energy like sparks.
The energy left in their wake lingered for a long time, as if someone had splashed brilliant paint across a pale blue canvas. Moments later, a thunderous explosion signaled their separation. Hong Fei glanced down at the center of his chest. A hole marred his nano armor, revealing the dark cyan skin beneath, etched with flickering dragon patterns.
The nano-armor knitted itself back together around the fracture, but the rainbow-hued energy clinging to it burned like acid, locked in a vicious tug-of-war. Across from him, Carol's suit bore several fist-shaped indentations, her abdomen torn open. The Dragon Power was already eating through her defenses like fire through paper.
They raised their hands in unison, palms glowing as their respective energies sealed the wounds. Carol's eyes narrowed fractionally as she watched Hong Fei work. Her tone shifted, sharpening at the edges.
"I'm an Earthling. Who are you?"
"Now you remember you're from Earth?"
Her pupils flickered.
"You know me?"
"I wish I didn't. You being here changes nothing for this planet."
"You're hostile."
Her jaw tightened.
"Not at all."
"Then we don't need to fight."
She tilted her chin up, the motion effortless, as natural as breathing. That same effortless superiority laced her words.
"You can't win. If you're truly one of Earth's defenders, I might forgive your earlier insolence."
Hong Fei went very still.
Carol's gaze dropped to the city below. Distance meant nothing to her vision—she took in the ruins swallowing half the metropolis, the Dragon Flags fluttering amidst the wreckage. Something twisted in her chest.
"Those banners. Yours?"
"Yes. Though you should be asking about the ruins instead."
"What happened here?"
She assumed this was why Fury had signaled her.
"Alien invasion. They're all dead now."
"Your doing?"
"Correct."
"Good work."
Hong Fei barked a laugh. Carol's brow furrowed as he shook his head.
"What's funny?"
"I told you—no hostility."
"Then we can—"
"I just want you dead."
The words hadn't finished echoing when he moved. The void behind him shattered like glass as the Dragon Dimension yawned open.
Carol met him head-on, same as before—but this time, the impact sent her careening a thousand meters back. No pause. No mercy. Hong Fei closed the gap in a blink, right fist already swinging for that angular face. Thunder cracked as Carol plummeted toward the ocean.
ROAR—
The golden dragon exploded from the dimensional rift, dozens of meters thick. Hong Fei stepped onto its head, boots braced against shimmering scales as it hurled him downward in pursuit. Carol reeled under the onslaught, no opening to counter.
To the citizens below, it was the Dragon King crushing that radiant stranger like a falling star.
BOOM.
The sea erupted. A geyser of white water rocketed skyward, the shockwave churning the surface into a frenzy. Tidal surges battered the shoreline, spraying foam high over the docks.
Daring onlookers crept back to the water's edge, fear and fascination warring in their eyes. Then—silence. The waves stilled. Murmurs rippled through the crowd before someone gasped.
Many pointed at the lightly rolling waves, where dazzling gold and prismatic energy bled through the water like ink dispersing in a glass.
THUD. THUD-THUD!
Muffled impacts shuddered through the depths, growing louder. The sea's surface trembled—then droplets began leaping into the air, one by one, as if the ocean itself was flinching.
The rhythmic pounding of the water accelerated, each impact sending up higher sprays until the sea itself seemed to dance—layer upon layer leaping skyward. Even from the distant vantage of a high-rise, the shockwaves rippling across the ocean's surface were unmistakable to the naked eye.
Breaths caught in throats. In the lulls between underwater tremors, people could hear their own heartbeats. Outside New York, a quinjet touched down at the manor. Frank, Steve, and the others arrived, the Avengers regrouping at Steve's summons. They stood together, eyes fixed on the distant sea, bracing for the battle's next act.
Then—BOOM!
The ocean erupted again. Two blurred figures shot from the geyser of spray, streaking upward in parallel until they hovered ten thousand meters above. Carol's aura blazed brighter than ever, her hair whipping skyward amid a corona of prismatic energy. Her eyes had vanished behind the glare, pure radiance now.
The light waves rippling off her distorted the very air, making space itself shudder. Yet a jagged wound split her left cheek, tracing from mouth to brow. Blood welled—only to vaporize instantly in her searing energy field. This time, her powers couldn't mend the damage as swiftly.
Across from her, the dark-gold dragon-scale armor showed its own scars: the left bracer gone, fractures spiderwebbing from chest to abdomen. Carol was formidable—arguably the strongest among the original Avengers. Even Thor, after his awakening under Hela's torment, might only match her.
Carol pivoted midair and lunged, arms outstretched. Hong Fei shifted stance, fists becoming open palms. Behind him, the Dragon Dimension expanded violently. As he thrust forward, a colossal serpent of energy surged forth. Beneath his mask, his face paled slightly. The dragon passed through him, and Hong Fei advanced inside its spectral skull.
Dragon and wielder became one—vision shared, power intertwined. Carol closed the distance in a blink.
Another cataclysmic detonation. Space quaked. When the energy blast radiated outward, hairline fractures split the void—black fissures hungering like miniature singularities.
The impact sent Carol reeling once more, her form flickering like a guttering flame. She braced against the dragon's maw, her own energy flaring in defiance. Then—ROAR!
Golden fire erupted from the dragon's jaws, a molten deluge. Carol crossed her arms, skidding backward under the torrent's force. This was raw power clashing, no tactics, no feints—just sheer might against might.
Her head tilted up, meeting the dragon's gaze. A guttural cry tore from her throat, rising in volume, in fury.
Simultaneously, the energy erupting from her body grew stronger, brighter—a supernova contained in human form. Her backward slide halted. Then, inch by inch, she began pushing forward against the golden tide.
The dragon's slit pupils flickered. Its serpentine body coiled, then lashed out with lethal grace.
The divine dragon's hindquarters emerged fully from the Dragon Dimension, revealing its complete form for the first time. Its massive body coiled through the air, head twisting to one side as its tail whipped around with devastating speed. The attack tore through the atmosphere with a thunderous crack—Divine Dragon Swings Its Tail! Carol barely managed to shift her weight before the impact sent her hurtling through the air like a ragdoll.
Having delivered its strike, the dragon twisted back toward the Dragon Dimension and vanished in a blur. Such an attack drained Hong Fei's energy reserves catastrophically—his fusion rate had barely passed fifty percent. Faced with renewed exposure, he brought his hands together, gathering his focus.
A second later, he suddenly spread them outward, and the energy in his body plummeted. From his position, hundreds of clones burst forth in every direction like sparks from an explosion. Carol, still catching her breath from the dragon's strike, found herself encircled by a ring of identical figures.