Disclaimer: Goes without saying but I do not own Bruce Banner nor the Hulk nor any other Marvel character herein included. They're the properties of the original creators as dictated by official documents, whom you can find out more about in Wikipedia or something. Stan Lee, Marvel Comics, etc.

The Anolians and every related character/lore are invented by me, as is the overarching plot, but obviously, I don't own it. Still Marvel.

Rating: T for a bit of violence. I censor profanity like they would in a comic, if I ever use it.

PART 10: The Plot

"The rebels, they tried to capture the gods! Take them into themselves so they could take over the presidency! Take over us! They captured my family, and my friends and tried to convince me…it was so gruesome. Now they're fighting because me and my fellows - we sent the gods away. For their protection, and that of our universe. Friends. Anolians. Please, stand with the presidency! Don't let this senseless war continue!"

"What?! That's not what he told me!" Nova protested in her ear.

"What is this?!" Sunfire also yelled, followed by a Japanese curse. "Is lying a religious experience for these people?!"

"What's going on?" War-Machine came through, echoed by Geena right beside Carol.

Carol, herself, was stumped. She was on such a victory high that this sudden turn of events had thrown her completely off the loop. The president was exactly the opposite. He was no longer at a loss out of fear and helplessness. He was grinning widely, happily.

"Did you really think Anolians would be able to display this level of ambition? Execute these sort of tactics? They are weak. All they care about is their sabbatical season, Tunhak. You're fools, earthlings, nothing but idiots bumbling around in places you know nothing about."

"Rebels, surrender. Please," continued the Chosen. "Your leaders have lied to you. You are on the side of wrong. You are the ones trying to destroy our way, and set us up for total destruction. The out-worlders are behind all of this! They came after me, and they took me, and they tried to-"

Carol blasted that whole side of the room in a fit of frustration, blowing a hole the size of the wall with a force that pushed Rahnh off its hovering trance and onto the ground. He stood up cackling in amusement. The president was also laughing, and his voice was different now.

"What?" Geena asked again.

"The truth is whatever people want to believe it is, earthlings. We know that better than anyone."

Carol looked over and recognized the figure of the green reptilian-like man. She squinted in anger.

"Skrulls," Wonder Man revealed, stating the obvious.

"Skrulls? What's that?" Geena asked.

"Shape-changing snakes," Carol accused, between gritted teeth and while marching for the fake president. The skrull kicked at the ground and jumped out through the hole using some kind of ability it had likely stolen from some other species, or individual. "They subvert civilization from within, and set them up for failure!"

"We have no need for such tactics with the Anolians," the fake Chosen said, amused. "This is a weak-willed people, and we can use any one of them to lead all the rest. Still, thank you for moving our schedule ahead, it was helpful to have a good opportunity to replace every single member of the presidency."

Carol gasped, embarrassing as that was.

"For a while there, we thought we wouldn't make it," continued the fake president. "We failed to get the powers from the Anolians, and so this stupid civil war escalated. We figured we'd have to abandon the Anolians to their eventual massacre at the ends of our real foes, but then, lo' and behold, we learn of earthlings coming to the rescue."

They laughed.

"We love it when you people come to the rescue. So easy to predict. To fool. To manipulate," gloated the fake Chosen.

Carol's hands glowed dangerously. The powers they were talking about were the Anolian gods. The Skrull were after the gods. But for what?

"What the hell are you after?" Carol said, stepping forth. "Tell me, or I'll obliterate you to a molecular level."

They scoffed unafraid.

"Well, the plan was to get their powers and then take over the entire Anolian people. An entire system inside the Kree Empire being left alone? What a juicy proposition. What an asset to own."

"Now?" Continued the other, the would be president. "Who knows," he said, thoroughly amused. "Whatever it is, you can't stop it. We have not only taken over the leadership but many of the silly civilians as well. You'll have to slaughter all of the Anolians to stop us. You can let the Kree know of our presence here, too, and they will cleanse every planet in the system to get just one of us."

They laughed, and Carol scowled, once again feeling trapped. Once again completely blind to what might be the right move. But moreover, she was burning with shame. She had made everything worse. She had completely fallen for their ploy and taken the worst action imaginable.

"Kill them," Sunfire said. "Their allies will then not know that we know."

That was something. Something that made sense. A move in the right direction. Her fists shone, and she stepped forward.

"No, we can interrogate them," War-Machine said. "Take them back and get a telepath to get information out of them."

And Carol stopped, hesitating.

"They're Skrull, I'm afraid to take that long of a trip with them," Nova said. "These guys can really mess us up if we're not careful."

"Wake up, War Machine. Why reveal themselves to us?" Sunfire asked, annoyed as ever, and Carol saw Simon nodding in agreement.

"True," he said, "They could have played this differently. They can either kill themselves or they don't know anything." Simon looked over at Carol with a sad expression. "Clearly, their mission is done. And so are their lives."

"I agree with Machine man," Geena said. "We shouldn't just murder them."

"I'm not saying that," Nova immediately said, defensively. "Is it a bad idea to reveal them to the Anolians? The truth's always good, right?"

"They'll go completely crazy, man!" Mr. Immortal contributed, surprisingly. "No way the Kree don't find out about it!"

"It's a risk worth taking," War-Machine pressed. "Take them prisoner."

"Some Anolian will see you taking them," Sunfire said. "It will be the same as revealing their presence. It is not a risk worth taking. Kill them."

Carol clenched her fists, grinding her teeth. She felt like such a failure, and once again, stuck with choosing between two wrongs.

Again.

Carol strengthened the resolve within her. If she couldn't find hope in the choice she had to make now, she would find it in the choice she was going to make after. With that in mind, she took a step and began to hover.

"We'll find the Anolians who escaped," she promised, through gritted teeth, while crossing the hole in the room. "We'll find their gods. We'll come back and, with their help, we'll root you out and free the Anolian worlds."

Captain Marvel pointed one hand at each of them, palms turned towards them, charging with the glow of photon energy. And yet, the Skrulls smiled and chuckled.

"You have lost, earthling, and you better get used to it," gloated the fake president. "We are different now. Smarter. More experienced."

"And rest assured that we will come for you, too," said the fake Chosen.

"Or maybe, we are already there," said the would-be president, and both of them started laughing inwardly.

Her hands shone brightly in their faces, blinding them. So they closed their eyes and lifted their faces in preparation.

"For the Empress," they said together, before Captain Marvel lit the whole room with a flash of photon energy, scarring the floor with their ashes.

"Holy…captain…" Geena was looking on in shock, but Carol dimmed the power in her hands, bringing it to rest.

Captain Marvel had to use every bit of strength in her not to choke as she spoke her next orders.

"Everyone back to the ship." Her voice sounded leveled. Stern and in control. Completely unlike how she really felt. "We're leaving."

Part End: Thank you for reading, please consider leaving a review if you have the time.

Yikes.

This story and Spider-man: Repulse are heavily connected by lore, even though they're not connected by plot. All my marvel stories are in the same universe, and following an overarching plot. Just in case you want to give that a read.