One punch.
Just one punch.
The heavy strike cannon, carrying Astra's hope, was smashed into pieces by Beckett before it could even activate. The plasma cannon was shot down mid-launch.
"Who the hell are you?!"
With his old comrade's wreckage underfoot, Astra took two steps back, muscles tensed, ready for a fight.
"You don't need to know. Now, come with me." Woz could only jam the communication network for three minutes, and Beckett didn't have extra time to waste with this man.
"What if I say no?"
Astra squinted, his eyes filled with caution. While he was indeed surprised by the man's ability to shatter the heavy strike cannon with a single punch, that wasn't a reason for him to obediently follow orders.
"You don't have the right to choose." Beckett raised his head, his cold and arrogant words making Astra frown. His thick arm struck first, launching a punch towards Beckett's stern face, but it was blocked by a single finger.
[What?!]
It was just one finger, yet Astra felt as if his arm had hit an unbreakable wall. Just as he tried to pull his hand back, Beckett's knee drove into his abdomen, and a sharp pain instantly surged through every nerve in his body!
In pain, his involuntarily opened mouth let out an unintelligible groan, saliva dripping from the corner of his lips onto the ground. Astra clutched his abdomen with his right hand, his knees buckling as he fell powerlessly before Beckett.
"I told you, you don't have the right to choose."
Beckett looked down at the man kneeling before him, grabbed his collar, and dragged Astra towards the entrance of the building like a corpse.
If his adoptive father, Thanos, hadn't wanted him alive, he wouldn't have had to waste so much time; he would have just swatted him to death.
"Cough... cough..."
Finally recovering from the intense pain and jarring movement, Astra grabbed the doorframe. His last bit of defiance made Beckett turn his head.
"I don't know who you are, but your target must be that energy conversion formula in my head."
Seeing Beckett stop, Astra sneered and struggled to his feet.
"If that's the case, you won't be able to take me with you. At least, not until the Skrulls outside are all dead." Astra smiled as he got up.
"This command center and the research institute below have a special magnetic field. This special magnetic field can protect my brain from being copied by the Skrulls."
"But if you take me out of here, and if there are still Skrulls in that frozen world outside, your actions will be paving the way for the Skrulls."
"They will unceremoniously copy all my recent memories, including that energy conversion formula."
Astra leaned against the doorframe, explaining the disadvantages of him leaving the command center, word by word.
"Of course, you can gamble. Gamble that you've frozen all those damned Skrulls into lifelike ice sculptures. However, look at me, look at the Kree soldiers in the communication center who weren't frozen by you, and you should know that this freezing isn't insurmountable."
After speaking, Astra reached into his waist pouch and pulled out a small liquor bottle.
"So, tell me, do I have a choice now?" He raised the small bottle towards Beckett, made a toasting gesture in the air, then took two swigs with a sneer, awaiting Beckett's response.
"Of course not." Beckett removed the bracelet from his right wrist, pressed the button, and the extremely small bracelet transformed into a solid, azure mechanical cat in a way that defied all logic.
"Woz, create a helmet that can interfere with the Skrulls' memory copying."
"Understood, His Highness Beckett." Woz scratched the back of his head, and the light emitted from his eyes scanned the entire building. Then, he scurried off with his short legs to find materials within the building to make the device.
Simply constructing a magnetic field with a similar function was no problem for Woz. Not long after leaving, Woz returned to Beckett with materials he had chiseled from ice.
He pulled a simple auxiliary program from his pocket and attached it to his waist, and suddenly eight mechanical arms wielding various tools appeared behind Woz.
Instantly, eight mechanical arms flailed wildly, the sound of hammering echoing endlessly.
The helmet, serving as the carrier, was ready, and the special shielding magnetic field followed. Woz also added a small function according to Beckett's request. As the green helmet was placed on Astra's head, his face was still filled with disbelief.
In this day and age, anyone can become a scientist now???
Astra had lost his last safeguard, his face looking as grim as he followed Beckett out of the building. Along the way, he looked at the rarely seen ice-sculpted scenery, wearing a green helmet, and dejectedly downed bottle after bottle of Blue Dream.
He knew he probably couldn't escape.
"His Highness Beckett!"
The Other, who had been continuously outputting energy using the azure scepter to maintain the Casket of Ancient Winters, excitedly waved when he saw Beckett returning with the target.
"Congratulations, His Highness Beckett, on successfully completing the mission." Singing praises, The Other waved his hand and simultaneously de-cloaked the small battleship behind him.
Two squads of Chitauri soldiers disembarked from the battleship in an orderly fashion to welcome Beckett's return.
"Bring the person aboard."
The Other retracted the scepter he had placed against the Casket of Ancient Winters. After waving to the soldiers disembarking from the battleship, he jogged over to Beckett.
The Casket of Ancient Winters, no longer activated by a key, immediately stopped its energy output, and the scope of the ice freeze ceased to expand.
"You're the one who froze this city?" Astra, who was being taken over by the Chitauri soldiers, looked at the frail-looking The Other and then at the Casket of Ancient Winters on the ice surface, unsure of what to say.
He had initially thought it was some large-scale device, but it turned out to be just a small box?
The Other paid him no mind and stood behind Beckett, acting like an obedient subordinate.
Astra was escorted onto the battleship by the Chitauri soldiers first.
"His Highness Beckett! Don't be fooled!!!!"
"Those people are Skrulls!!!!"
Just as Beckett was about to board the battleship, a breathless voice called out from afar. The Other, who had lost an eye, appeared before Beckett, panting heavily, with over a dozen Chitauri soldiers behind him.
"It's the Skrulls, Your Highness Beckett!"
The Other beside Beckett's face instantly turned grim, his words filled with the Skrull language.
"All units, stand by!" The Other roared, positioning himself in front of Beckett. Some of the Chitauri soldiers who had just escorted Astra onto the battleship appeared behind The Other.
"Your Highness Beckett! Please believe me! I am the real one! He's an imposter!"
The one-eyed The Other aimed his weapon at the other version of himself before him, shouting with genuine emotion.
"Your Highness Beckett! I am real, this guy is an imposter!"
"Your Highness Beckett, I, I am the real one!"
"I'm real! He's fake!"
"I'm real! He's fake!"
"..."
The cacophony of self-proclamations caused Beckett's brow to furrow.
"Your Highness Beckett, whether it's biological genes or technological structure, the two of them are identical." Woz, the robotic cat that materialized from the wristband, scanned both The Others, his tone carrying a rare hint of disbelief.
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Translation by: randomtranslator.com
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