Disclaimer: I don't own any of Chracters (altough I'd like it) but Blackdragon; all the other belong to Marvel .


Road to the Secret Invasion

StarkTowers. Tony Stark's private apartment.

"What… what do you mean with…" Chris can't believe it's really happening, she can't believe what he is telling her… she stares at her brother, still sitting on the bed, while Tony leaves his position and goes at the window, feeling again, after days, the sunlight on his skin.

"I know what I said, Chris, and you have to believe me. I've the evidences, it's not something that I'm just telling you. Let me show you what I mean." As he comes back near her, he offers to his younger sister his right hand; it's not a simple gesture, Tony knows Chris too well, and he knows better than anybody else that, while reading a mind, she preferably needs a physical contact, to increase the quantity and quality of data, their transmission, and even to manage the pain… for both she and the person she is reading; he already felt this, when she reads minds in these way, it's like a upload/download process, at high speed… light speed. A little reluctant and hesitating, she finally decides to face the reality, and takes his brother's protective hand in her one… and for what seems an eternity, the world turns black around Tony Stark.

"Where… where are we, Chris?" Tony looks around, finding himself with his latest armor, but without the helmet, flying in the void, only darkness all around him. He feels nothing at all, it's like everything is without meaning, infinite… he isn't even sure if he is really listening to his own voice or not.

"Welcome to my personal psych-conference room, Tony. I took you on the astral plane with me, here we'll be able to see what you'll tell me, as it was in 3-D and at 360°, like we were there. -Suddenly, Tony turns to look at his back and, where once there was no one, where there was the darkness, he starts to see a light… it's small at the beginning, but, as it comes closer and closer, it becomes bigger, and, once it's in front of him, the light fills everything, just after taking the shape of the body of his sister, dressed not in her usual way, but neither with her costume; she is wearing a version of the leather/Kevlar uniforms that all the X-Men started to wear, after Xavier told the world he was a mutant; he remembers that, for a brief time, Chris wore that uniform– not exactly the one the teachers at the school wore, but one of those ones that Storm's group had, the one they gave her when they- and not him – found her, almost dead, with her clothes destroyed by the destruction -under the ruins of Genosha – a dark blue tube top with a red circled "x", leather pants with the same symbol on her hips, a symbol that was on the black jacket, too, and a pair of black boots – but, additionally, with the adamatium mask she isn't wearing here on the astral plane. Tony, show me everything."

"I'll show you what I know and few data that I downloaded from SHIELD during the last few weeks… I'll start not from the beginning, but from the end, from the most recent events that make me believe that we've been infiltrating…."

As they speak, they find themselves in the same apartment they were in, but few weeks before…it's night, and it's storming on the outside. Tony's asleep, as Spider-Woman enters in his room, with a dead body in her hands… the body of a skrull posing as Elektra; They sees Jessica explains that the Rebel Avengers had travelled to Tokyo to rescue Maya Lopez aka Ronin, aka Echo, who'd been send to Japan to track Down the Silver Samurai, and, once done, she decided to keep tabs on the Japanese underworld, and, doing it, she realized that Elektra had took control of the Hand, the most organised gang of mystical ninja criminals… overmatched by them, the S.A. went to Japan to help her, and, during the fight, Maya slew Elektra… that turned into a skrull. And not any skrull, because this had just proven that they can infiltrate and control even the Hand without anyone being the wiser... even Wolverine's senses couldn't sniff this out, nor Strange's magic. So, if they can infiltrate the hand… what about Avengers, Initiative, government, military… SHEILD? "Very likely, someone of the Avengers is a skrull… no, not likely, definitely. And with this explosive information, I did what I thought was the best move… I went , with the body,to the Illuminati, or so it's how that…"

"I know who the illuminate are, Tony – she stops him, as they are now in another place, in another time – but Charles told me that, after the War.. and the Hulk… they all had a certain level of reservation about you and the life of the group."

"When we first come together, I don't know if Charles had tell you, but it was after the skrull/kree war… perhaps some chickens have come home to roost because of the objectives we arrogantly pursed that day and.."

"this is a story for another day, Tony. I need you to focus on the problem, and show me what matters the most." Chris seems very distant, as she speaks with him; but, as Tony looks at her, he understands that she is doing it just in order to control the pain she is feeling. Now they see the meeting, Stranger remembering that the skrull has evaded everything that have, Charles and Namor suggesting that it could be an isolated incident, as Tony suggests that it could be the perfect time for an infiltration, to manipulate the events for their purposes – like the illuminate did too, Chris can't avoid to think – and, as they continue to debate…. "It was Black Bolt, Chris, do you get it? the king of the inhumans... a skrull. He was in our midst, and we didn't know fro how long… we fought… he wanted our blood… and he had all or powers. He told us as it was written, it is now done.It seemed so… like religious fundamentalism. And, before we could take any information from him, first, Namor was finally able to kill him, and then, other two skrulls appeared, with the powers of the X-Men and of the Avengers… and, after the battle, when we found out that Black Bolt's body was gone… we realised that they had reached their goal. The other Illuminati walked away. And I can't blame them."

"This is where we are now, Tony. I asked you to show me this, and you did it. – the battlefield is now gone, they are again in the darkness – now, to know what to do next, we need to know how it all started."

"The skrulls are a hundred of thousands of years old civilisation, that hails originally from the planet Skrullos, Andromeda Galaxy. They were imperialists, and, once conquered thousands of world, moved the seat to Tarnax 4, the throneworld. From there, they decide that Heart was in their destiny. Basically, they are highly recognisable, but they could mimic anything they wanted… and now, no one can imagine how they are able to shape-shifter… the first skrull appeared in the old west;Kid Colt and Arizona Girl destroyed a city made of skrulls. Decades later, they tried to kidnap earthlings; years later, they tried to inflame the tensions between US and Russia during Cold War, but we aren't sure about it, because we don't have too many data about the alien presence on the planet for what concerns those years, but it seems that we can assume that those weren't real invasions, just isolated incidents led by small groups."

"Looking back in history, it seems that – she continues his brother's speech, as they are now witnessing the birth of the FF – it all really begun here. After the FF'S birth, the contacts became more… intense, the data more reliable. Reed can really take good notes, if you can interpret them."

"Yes, in fact, - he continues, as they are now seeing someone posing as the FF attacking civilians –the FF had almost all the run-ins with the skrulls. First they tried to embarrass the FF, attacking civilians posing as them. Then, Reed and the others stopped an invasion, with a… well, let's say that he used a ridiculous escamotage. When the Empire understood what had happened, they started to look for revenge, concentrating all their efforts to create a weapon able to defeat the FF, what they saw as Hearth's only defensive force…."

Again, the landscape changes in front of them, like before, and now they are in Times Square. "it's the day the Super-Skrull arrived on the planet, and claimed it to be under the power of the Empire, I remember it. I was still living here at the time; it was shortly before I graduated from MIT. we had luck, because he toyed with the FF long enough to allow Reed to find a way to stop him… but what shocked my the most was what happened at Sue and Johnny's father… the Skrull kidnapped him, and send him back on the planet with a bomb attached to his body… he died to save many lives. He was a brave man…" As she finish to speak, a tear leaves her eyes, while, with crossed arms, she starts to looks at her feet, feeling sad and more… she knows Sue and Johnny thanks to Reed, who's been her teacher and she has worked for, and she knows how badly they had been hurt for they dad's death.

"Shortly after, the Super Skrull had been exiled on Heart by the Emperor for his failures, and, along the way, he battled even Thor and Captain Marvel, expanding his reach beyond the F4. – now, the scene they are seeing is a battle between the Super Skrull and Thor – Ok, coming back to the Skrulls… Tell me Chris, do you know how the Kree/Skrull begun, eons ago?"

"I have to admit that it's something beyond my knowledge, but I feel like you are going to tell me…" As they start to speak again, they are again in the darkness, alone, face to face.

"When they arrived on Hala, the planet was inhabited by a clan of Kree and the Cotati, plant-like creatures. To decide who was worthy to receive their advanced knowledge, the Skrulls ferried representatives of both races, sending them to the moon and… let's say that they made a skrull version of Survivor. The Kree lost the challenge to the Cotati, and they did not take losing well. The barbaric Kree led an assault on the Skrull delegation supervising the contest. Using the secrets gleaned by the Skrull technology, and emboldened by their domination on the Skrulls, the Kree built up gleaming cities based on Skrull tech. decades later, they added further insult to the Skrulls by launching an attack on their homeworld without warning, thus igniting a fierce rivalry that inevitably forced the Skrulls to adapt into their blood-thirsty, warlike ways. This Kree/Skrull war would last foe eons and claim billions of lives. This rivalry still exists to this day, but it has been a war that has always been contained largely to their respective galaxies, until recently, when it finally come to menace pour planet; see, the Earth is a strategic value, since it's almost in the middle between Andromeda and the Kree Galaxy. So, when the war arrived at lour door, - he continues as again the images in front of them change, taking the forms of the days of said war - with the help of captain Marvel, himself a Kree, we repelled the machinations of both sides to gain control of the planet… during the WAR, Mar-Vell became a captive of the Skrulls, Rick Jones was lulled into being a pawn of the Kree's supreme intelligence, paying a deeply personal price for his heroism. Thor, Vision and Captain America, the Avengers clashed with the flagship of a Skrull Armada, where we discovered that they had launched an atomic bomb at Earth. As Ronan the Accuser led the Kree Armada towards the final battle on the planet, we tried our best to stop the bomb; the war resolved itself when the body of Rick Jones unleashed a bolt of mind energy, that froze both Kree and Skrulls, costing the man almost his life. The war was over, but just for now, and I knew it. I knew we didn't pass the "test" to well; in that moment, I understood I had to do something about it."

"I think I get it, Tony. – the landscape changes again, and now they are witnessing the Illuminati's first encounter; Walking in the room, Chris, under Tony's eyes, goes near the persons that had a crucial importance in her life (Tony, Charles and even Reed) and asks herself how it happened. How they found the courage to lie to the most important persons of their lives, how they could think to perform this crusade, how arrogant it was for them to think they could be the puppet-masters of the world - you thought the world needed more than good but lucky superheroes, it needed an elite fraternity of super humans, sharing information in a common cause. You thought it could have prevented the war from arriving here, you thought we needed the Illuminati and you gave us it. You assembled the most powerful being of the planet and you secretly started to shape the world around you."

"I thought it was for the greater good, Chris, I didn't think that….- as he understands that this isn't what she wants to know, that she doesn't want to ear it, he comes back to the main topic – our first mission was to Throneworld, we wanted to be clear with the Skrulls that we weren't going to accept other intrusions. But our escape planet didn't work as planned. They captured, tortured and studied us all…"

"I've never heard of it, Tony. Charles never confessed me of this…- she asks him, as she tries her best to look in another direction, to avoid seeing her brother tortured by the green aliens - Do you think the impostor took Black Bolt's place that time?"

"It's too scary to think about it, but looking back at this engagement, how did the Skrulls react to the ending of the war? To the message we had sent to them, in person and with maximum violence? what were their next moves?"

"I hear that a Skrull was witnessing Dark Phoenix's trial, on the blue area of the moon…"

"That's right. Empress R'Kill killed her husband, Dorrek VII, and took his place, and send a Skrull, Raksor, to monitor the battle… but he found a fellow monitor, a Kree, Bel-Damn, and they started to fight. The empress and the Supreme Intelligence decided that those battle was meant to end the war between the two races. After months, Uatu stopped them, sending them in separate ways, in peace. This novel approach to settling their differences may have helped in the short run, but sooner things changed for the whole universe- he continues, as things change again, and this time, what they see, is Galactus, consuming a planet, and the sweet face of a Skrull woman – when Galactus consumed Throneworld, Princess Anelle, one of the few who wanted peace, died with her people and her mother. It was a shame. The Throneworld destroyed and the centralized power gone, the empire fell into a Civil War. At the end, the faction led by Empress S'Byll had the most powerful influence; she even brought peace with the Kree and restored the powers of her fellow Skrull. Year later, a Skrull, posing as the head counsellor to Empress Lilandra, the empr…"

"Former X-men here. I know who Lilandra is, she married Charles Xavier, the head of the X-men, my ex group, and, for your knowledge, I even met her few times." –

"Ok,Sorry, I had to assume that you knew her… I mean, if you say Shi'ar, you say X-Men. So, as I was telling you, there was a Skrull, posing as Lilandra's counsel, Araki…"

For an instant, Chris looks at the soil, crossed arms, sad, and then, starts to cry, as an image appears in front of them… the image of a family slaughtered, and a red head girl on the soil, with a creature marking her, and other alien creature – a Skrull too- who are fighting the X-men. "Word is, it had been Araki to order the attack to the Grey Family. They killed all the members of Ray's family, on her mother's side, to avoid the birth of a new host for the phoenix force… they marked her with the "death mark" to be able to find her everywhere in the universe… the X-men tried their best, but weren't able to stop this before it was too late… and I wasn't there, to help one of my best friends…"

As the image changes again, Tony looks at Chris, not knowing what to say or to add, and so he continues his speech. "The Skrull wanted to convince her to destroy the Kree… we tried to stop the bomb, but weren't able to. This time, the Skrulls won. With their enemy decimated, the Skrulls decided to try to gain control of our planet again; we'd have hints of pockets of Skrull infiltration. And don't forget Lija, who posed for months as Alicia Masters, and even married Johnny Storm… but it's obvious that you know, it, right?"

"she disappeared after your "deaths", if I'm not wrong."

"Yes, we don't now, at today, what happened to her later. We know of a Skrull who posed as Cap, but it was an isolated incident, like many others. And here we are again to the present… to the Skrulls we know about."

"This one is John the Skrull. He is an agent of MI-13, he works in Pete's division of "weird events". He investigated martian landings and faerie attacks. He claims to be part of an invasion from 1963, that tried to take control of the pop culture. After that, he switched side and now is one of the most valuable assets in Pete's team.-Chris turns to looks at her brother, and, as she still gives a sight to the scene of a mission from MI-13, notices the glances he is giving her, and that evil and malicious smile – what do you have now?"

"I was going to say the same things, but calling him "Wisdom" instead of "Pete"; you know, although I met him few times, after SHIELD and British Government signed an agreement after the SHRA, we're not so close as you two are. Tough guy, or so he looks like, your Pete. – as the background change again, he sees that now she is the one who gives him the glances- Oh, sorry sis, I'll stop to call your supposed boyfriend "your Pete", if you feel uncomfortable. Back to focus… We have a Skrull, Jazinda, who works with She-Hulk. And now the biggest problem of all: Teddy Altman, codename Hulking… a Skrull. The Super-Skrull, our old pal, the one and only original with the name Kl'Rt, paid a visit to Teddy's home, and exposed the woman he thought was his mother to be the nanny for his real mother, Princess Anelle, ordered by the empress to defend the life of the child at all costs… and the cost had been her life. As you can imagine, he was in shock; continually referring to the boy as a "hatchling", he provided Teddy testimony to his lineage… you seen, things are a little complicated, because, during the Kree/Skrull war, the S.K. was ordered to kidnap the avengers,; he hoped, in doing so, to gain the hand of the princess, but the emperor feared for his throne, and put him in prison, where he overheard that the princess had given birth to a male child, who, for the identity of his father, was condemned to death. The empress wanted him safe, so she sent him on hearth, to reunite with his father… guess who - The Kree Born Mar-Vell, captain Marvel, who died before to meet the child."

"I have to stop to watch "The bold and the beautiful, this is a way more interesting. Someone must tell the writers to give a look at this, they could learn something interesting."

"Glad to hear that you are still sarcastic, but wait for the next. Now, you could imagine what happens next. KL'RT told the Skrulls he had gained possession of the baby, the chosen one meant to reunite the Skrull worlds. Of course, at this point, the Kree knew of Teddy's existence, too, and when they arrived, Teddy had a speech about how, being Cap marvel's son is he heir to a great Kree destiny."

"So, Teddy Altman is indeed the half-breed son of princess Anelle and of Captain Marvel. Half Kree, half Skrull. He could be the ultimate weapon in the war, or the one to put an end to the conflict with the peace once and for all…"

"Well, as I was saying before you stopped me again, at this point, the Avengers arrived, to stop the battle for the possession of a young and confused boy… with our surprise, was KL'RT to save the battle. Concerned that his future emperor could die in the crossfire, he switched identity with Teddy; the Super Skrull pretended to be Teddy, and agreed to spend 6 moths with the Kree and other six moths with the Skrulls. The aliens went separate ways, KL'RT followed the Kree, and Teddy remained on Earth. The fate of the Super-Skrull, however, would take him far afield from saviour of merely Teddy… he was called to be saviour of his own galaxy, as he was called to stand against the Annihilation wave… After Annihlus attached Andromeda, millions of Skrulls began to fall, and the Super Skrull was the only one able to stop him. Once done so, he even helped his enemy, Ronan the Accuser, to gain control again of planet Hala."

"If the annihilation wave could bring together such hated foes, it must have been some kind of a threat…"

"Yeah. Well, at the end, despite their efforts, dozens of worlds had fallen, and the boundaries of the Andromeda and Kree galaxies were on fire, with disorder and violence; being such an oasis of peace and calm, earth is still a fruitful target. Here we are. Earth is a target, and her champions walk away from each other, just when the crisis reaches its climax. Despite our powers, our most lethal weapon was the trust we had for each other… to back each other up…to unite in a common cause…to risk life, limb and sanity to save the day…to depend on help to arrive when you need it. And now, who do I trust? Who do you trust? Nobody, and that's how the Skrulls will beat us."

When they come back to the reality, Chris is still on the bed, as in trance, and Tony is at her side. She looks outside the window, thinking deeply, crossing her arms, reflecting at closed eyes.

"You think that maybe I am Skrull, and that, maybe, someone that you know it's one of them, too." Tony asks as he sits, at crossed legs, near her.

"I was thinking that maybe there's someone that could help us, but Charles Xavier was the only one who knew how to contact them, and nobody knows where he is at the moment…"

"Someone who could help us against the Skrull… what do you mean?"

"all the empires have their secrets, Tony. The Shi'Ar never admitted that one of them was able to gain control of the Phoenix… and the great secret of the Skrull Empire is that they hadn't the natural evolutionary dead end. Some Skrull were born with natural super-powers, they were mutants… the X-men of the Skrulls, who tried to kills them, eliminating the babies with anomalies in name of the eugenetic. And as Charles led the X-men years ago, he led Cadre K, too."

"If they are as powerful as you seems to think, then just prey that they are still on our side…"


Ok, now you can tell me if you liked it or if you hated it... I WANT A lot of reviews!!... see you in two weekends with the a new chapter of the Balckdragon saga...

I had to change from a chapter for week into a chapter each two weeks, because i'm too near the Official issues... but, if you want, you can sometimes go to www.blackdragontales.; ii'll re-post this fan-fiction, and a new one, called "Genosha: Rebirth", but the site is stillunder construction, it will be ready in, at least, a week. Hope to see you soon, glad you read it, lizzie.