Author's Note: before we begin, I feel the urge to address a couple of reviews;
-to the guest insistent about Spider-Man, calm down! This is an Avengers story, not a Spider-Man story. When he does periodically appear, I'll be sure to follow what Stan Lee, Steve Ditko and Jack Kirby did in his Vol 1 comics.
-To the guest wanting more Thor, go back and read chapter 33.
-Trailblazer445 - Thank you!
With that out of the way, let's move on, shall we?
The Skrulls are coming! Lost and confused, the remaining Avengers do not know who they can trust, each other or anyone else! But an invasion threatens Wakanda and King T'Challa, the Black Panther, will answer! Can the team band together? Will they find the resolve to stand firm? Join the team, true believers, as they face a sinister-
Chapter 35: Infiltration
The Mansion seemed so lonely now. With the team down yet another Avenger, the fact that only four members were active was becoming depressingly apparent. Captain America and Hawkeye were around somewhere, but that wasn't whom Wasp wanted to see right now.
The winsome heroine padded down the halls where doors to each members' rooms lined both sides. She was making her way to Connor's room, to check in on him after a few days of downtime to recover from his near-death encounter with the mysterious Red Hulk. It was another moment of concern, as he was one of the Avengers that did not have superhuman durability or the ability to rapidly heal or a high pain tolerance. Janet was reminded of the time Connor was laid low by Ultron, probably the worst beating he'd suffered since joining the team.
His door was ajar and Janet took that as a sign she could enter. Knocking as she pried the door open, "Connor?" The technopath did not answer her call. She stepped inside, spying his Cybernaut costume laid out on his bed, along with his kinetic-charger gauntlets, forcefield projector, and irons. Still no sign of him. "Connor?" Janet wondered again.
All at once the door to his attached bathroom swung open, revealing a shower-fresh Connor Peterson running a towel through his damp dark hair. He looked up, momentarily surprised. "Oh! Hey, Jan." He greeted nonchalantly. Janet, however, was slow to respond. Her mutant ally was wearing a pair of sweatpants but was otherwise shirtless, which let Janet get a good look at his body… and it was quite a body!
His extra training and working out was paying off quite well. The last time she witnessed his bare chest, Connor looked like an up-and-coming athlete, lean and trim. But now? Now he was still athletic (and the cyberware etched into his skin remained unchanged along his arms, chest and neck) but his muscles were much more defined now, sporting a nice set of pecs and stony six-pack abs… not to mention a few stray droplets of water clung to him, making him appear all that much more-
"Jan?" The heroine shook her head, regaining her composure.
"Heh, sorry." She apologized with a sheepish smile, rubbing the back of her head. "Just… a-a little on edge." Connor exhaled.
"Yeah. I hear you." He emphasized, thinking back to his impromptu meeting with a secret Kree operative… posing as a waitress at his favourite cafe. "I can assure you, though, I'm me."
"Oh, I've never doubted that for a minute." Janet replied with a breathy chuckle, brushing some hair behind her ear. "I just… wanted to make sure you were okay after Red Hulk." His gaze dropped and her offered a small bashful smile.
"I'll be alright." He said softly. "Not the first time I've been given the go-around by a villain."
"I know…" Janet continued, chancing to take a step closer to him. "You were up pretty late last night and pretty early this morning." She commented.
"I just finished training. Gotta start picking up some slack since we're down another member and missing our muscle." Connor explained, tossing his towel back into a corner of his bathroom. Jumping to conclusions, Janet's eyes widened slightly at the possible reason for his new physical looks.
"You were training last night and this morning?" She asked in bewilderment while sneaking a peak at his abs again.
"Well, no. I trained this morning. Last night I was busy in the lab," Connor correct, "I've been working on something that should hopefully give me an edge in fights."
"Oh? Me too!" Janet echoed.
"Really?"
"Yeah! Finally putting that ol' microbiology degree to good use." She described, hands on her hips and appearing quite pleased with herself.
"Well, I'm certainly looking forward to seeing the results." Connor replied. "Mine I started on after that Red Hulk fiasco. I had an idea while I was bedridden, started piecing it together as soon as I was up and around again."
"Hey, by the way, did you ever figure out who that bird-suit-guy was that attacked you before Red Hulk did?" Janet queried.
"Well, it's the one thing I did attempt while I was recovering." Her technopath friend said as he took a seat on his bed. "Facial recognition pulled up multiple possibilities, unfortunately he was wearing some sort of electro-mesh screen that scrambled some of his features. Most likely possibility is a guy called Samuel Thomas Wilson. He's a special ops paratrooper who works that high-tech flying rig. Goes by the call sign 'Falcon'." Connor answered. Janet raised a brow.
"What do you mean by 'most likely'?" She pried.
"As in facial recognition matched him at a sixty-two percent chance while everyone else was under fifty." Connor explained. "Still, there's no way of knowing since that electromesh could even be distorting bird-boy's features just enough to look like Samuel Wilson."
"So, assuming it is him… why would a paratrooper be attacking Avengers Mansion and be after Bruce Banner?" Janet wondered as she took a seat beside him, sneaking another look at his pecs.
"Your guess is as good as mine." Connor shrugged. "Things just keep getting stranger these days."
"Well, at least we've got each other." Janet surmised with a soft, wholesome smile. Connor returned it.
"Couldn't ask for better people to work with." He added, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sure we'll get everyone else back once this Skrull-nonsense is sorted out." He was attentive enough to understand her worries. Perhaps he shared them too. But in the moment, Janet was more concerned with the fact that a man was able to sympathize with her, something Hank seldom did. The last time he'd been so empathetic and caring was after her father died. How he was seldom there for her… but Connor was.
Acting on instinct, she moved in close and hugged him, throwing her arms around his torso as she pressed her cheek to his bare chest. "I know, Connor." She whispered as she felt his own arms slowly encircle her. The technopath was secretly beaming. This was the closest he'd ever been to Janet, the woman who occupied his thoughts and dreams, and to be hugging her right now was a very welcome experience.
Only a second in and Janet suddenly realized how warm he was. Then she remembered he was shirtless. Then she realized where her head was. 'I'm… I'm right up against his chest. I-I can feel his muscles… his firm, warm muscles…' Her thoughts churned and her cheeks grew red. The realization set in and Janet shivered as her heart started pounding. She bit her lower lip and dared press herself a little closer to his flesh. 'He's so warm… so real… so firm…' Every suggestion ever made by Carol and Sue suddenly bubbled up in her mind and Janet experienced a full-body shiver as a result.
All of a sudden, an alarm began to sound throughout the Mansion. They both knew it well; the mark of a top-priority distress call, usually issued by another Avenger. Something was up. The pair untangled, much to Wasp's mixed relief and regret. "I-I'll, um, let you get dressed!" She hurriedly proffered before shrinking down and taking flight, hoping her embarrassed flush wouldn't be so noticeable at a smaller size. "Better go find out what that is!" Janet didn't wait for a response, zipping out of his room as fast as her wings could carry her in an effort to appear concerned about the alarm.
In reality, however, she stopped just outside his room, breathing a quiet exhale of relief before she placed a hand over her chest in an effort to still her beating heart, which pounded loudly in her ears…
A few minutes earlier…
Near the heart of downtown New York, Carol Danvers (better known as the mighty Miss Marvel) sat forlornly in her personal apartment in a quiet, broody state. Ever since the breaking of the Avengers, and Tony's divisive news about the shape-shifting alien impersonators, she had returned full-time to her SWORD duties but always felt an uncomfortable nagging in the back of her mind that she couldn't trust anyone. A veteran of the Air Force and something of a military brat herself, she knew the value of a cohesive unit where every component trusted the other to get the job done. but now she found herself shooting her colleagues and her subordinates, the agents under her command, a secondary questioning glance. She wondered if they wee Skrulls. If the invaders were right under her very nose, taking the clever guise of friends and allies.
Her mind was a mess and she was desperate to alleviate it.
Glancing out her window, dozens of pedestrians milled up and down the sidewalks and either side of the street beyond her. She envied them. They had no clue about the things she was privy to, and sometimes Carol deeply wished she could go back to a simpler time. When Earth was the only populated celestial body in the universe and no one else existed to take interest in it. "What're you gonna do, Danvers?" She wondered aloud.
Her phone buzzed beside her, startling the would-be heroine. Carol flipped it over, checking the caller ID. It was Matthias; the brother of a friend, a good friend… a man she was sweet on… and a man she couldn't trust. Carol sighed sadly and clicked her phone off, declining the call. She didn't want to. But she couldn't trust anyone. Not until she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt he was human.
Then another device started chirping and Carol groaned. "Now what?" She complained. Standing up, she picked up a pager from her dinner table, suddenly realizing it was a direct communication from Damocles base as it orbited above Earth. With that understood, she answered right away.
"Major Danvers! An unidentified spacecraft has just arrived in Earth's atmosphere, grid coordinates point-seven-one!" The duty sergeant on the other end hurriedly reported. That sounded serious, enough to banish her doldrums..
"I'm on my way!" She responded. With superhuman speed, she stripped out of her civvies and donned her Miss Marvel costume in the blink of an eye. Cracking open a window, she bolted out and took flight, shooting through the air with blistering speed until she broke the sound barrier. Clouds and blue sky gave way to the dark canvas of space as Miss Marvel bolted around the curvature of the other. Having memorized the grid mapping system used by Damocles, she knew exactly where to be… and her skills were proven when she found a spaceship of a very alien design barreling through the atmosphere with a superheated aura about it. Her commlink crackled,
"SWORD to Miss Marvel, we have confirmation. The ship hyperjumped right into the atmosphere, location of origin unknown. They're ignoring all attempts at contact. Looks like they took damage too." A SWORD techie informed her.
"Any luck with ID?" She asked.
"We're getting in recognition data from both Damocles Base, and the captured Kree vessel. Hang on…" Miss Marvel waited in silence, patiently pursuing the alien craft past the speed of sound. "They're saying it's a Skrull ship, I repeat, a Skrull ship." The name made her pause, hovering in place as the ship grew smaller and smaller.
"Skrull…?" She repeated under her breath.
"Miss Marvel, report. What is your status?" The tech demanded. Carol ignored him, watching the Skrull ship move towards the African continent. It occurred to her that this situation could unfold not something far bigger, given the known threat at hand. And if this instance was at all related to the larger problem they all faced, Carol knew that (despite her misgivings) she would need help from the people best suited to handle an alien invasion.
With drawing her ID card from the little nook in her belt, Miss Marvel's thumb lingered over the call button as she hesitated to summon the team. Her mistrust of them continued to chain her course of action. In the end, the heroine reasoned that, even if she couldn't trust their persons, she could trust their skills. Her thumb pressed the icon, the card lighting up her distress call. "Avengers assemble!" She called out.
Tucking the card away, she bolted after the crashing Skrull ship, obliterating the sound barrier once more in hot pursuit as Africa loomed largely beneath her. By the time she caught up with it, the craft had wrecked a portion of thickly-overgrown jungle, sending flocks of birds scattering left and right while wild animals howled as their peaceful home was rudely disturbed. Miss Marvel made landfall just beyond the wrecksite, her boots coming to rest atop upturned dirt just beyond a deep, grooving trench. She carefully advanced, searching the exterior of the ship carefully for signs of potential threats.
The sudden rush of pneumatics were startling, followed by a hiss of atmospheric breach as a panel on the rearmost part of the craft began to lower. Carol tensed, balling her hands into fists as they began to glow with photon energy build-up. A blinding glow from within backlit nine figures standing at the edge of the boarding ramp and, as her eyes adjusted, Miss Marvel realized to her shocked astonishment that she recognized them.
It was the Avengers. All of the Avengers.
"We made it." Iron Man breathed. "Finally, we made it home…"
Carol couldn't believe it. Emerging from the Skrull vessel was the entire Avengers team; Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, the Hulk, Ant-Man, Wasp, Black Panther, Hawkeye, and Cybernaut. They looked slightly different, their costumes older and less updated versus the last time she'd seen them. Still tense, but now frozen in shock, the heroine remained wordless as the team of heroes approached her. Iron Man flipped up his golden faceplate, revealing the familiar face of Tony Stark behind it. A buzzing caught her attention, revealed to be Janet hovering in very close proximity to her. She looked the same as the Janet she last saw several weeks ago.
"Carol? Is that you?" The diminutive Wasp wondered, circling slowly around her front. "What are you wearing? Because you look great!" She complimented. She sounded like Janet, even talked like her friend. Carol remained bewildered.
"What is going on?" She demanded, not dropping her fists and prepared to launch photon blasts at any given second. "You made it home f-from where?"
"Do we know the glowing chick?" Hawkeye asked aloud.
"Her name is Major Carol Danvers. Last time we saw her she was in a hospital." Cybernaut explained. "Nice to see you're up and about again." He added, tilting his head towards Carol.
"You would know that Hawkeye, if you ever read the mission reports." Iron Man snidely added. Hawkeye frowned in retort as the armored Avenger stepped forward. "Carol, it's a little complicated. The Avengers were pulled into a place called Asgard. Things got crazy, but we pretty much saved all reality. When we got back, though, we were attacked." He explained. "Attacked by Skrulls." Behind him, Thor flung several unconscious bodies of the green-skinned aliens into a pile on the ground as he finished clearing out the shuttle.
"It happened just as Hank was about to take his leave. He and I were ambushed first, right in the Mansion foyer." Cybernaut chimed in.
"We were all exhausted. Some of us were already wounded. They took us by surprise. Thor lasted the longest, but he fell too." Tony continued. "We only found out where they were keeping us at the very end; they had a prison ship parked behind Titan, one of Saturn's moons. It could've been months… it all blurred together. They kept us restrained. They kept Thor unconscious. But eventually, the Hulk got mad enough, and he sprung us from captivity. We hijacked a shuttle and made our way back home." Miss Marvel relaxed, lowering her arms as she stood in stiff disbelief and stared incredulously. And yet… it seemed so likely and believable.
"For real, how long have we been gone?" Wasp inquired as she grew to full size. "What's been happening this whole time?" Carol stammered, struggling to reply. Here before her was the team she knew, whole and united. It seemed too good to be true. The heroine glanced at her ID card, still aglow and beeping to indicate the call had gone out. But had it gone to the right people…?
"Uh… I-I don't even know where to begin…" She confessed, dropping her guard and drawing closer to them.
Little did she realize that they were being watched…
Carol gave the team a brief overview of what had been happening, and just how long they'd been gone for. "Two months?!" Cybernaut cried in dismay. "Man! This means I missed the premiere of Dark of the Moon!"
"Movies aside, that is a very long time to be gone for. Long enough for our true enemy to have caused significant damage." Black Panther cut in.
"Aye. The Skrulls have been using their time well." Thor agreed.
"The amount of damage they could've caused… it's unthinkable!" Ant-Man added worriedly.
"What do you mean?" Miss Marvel asked. "Did you hear something? What do you know?" She asked anxiously.
"The Skrulls, we think they've replaced us all. They're trying to weaken Earth's defences for a full scale invasion." Iron Man explained. "We learned their primary target, though, the reason we had to get to Wakanda-"
"The Skrulls want the Vibranium mound." Black Panther interjected. "Wakanda is their true target." That seemed to make sense to the heroine. Vibranium was immensely powerful, and no doubt the Skrulls would put it to use in their siege engines and war machines to make an already terrible conquest even worse.
"So, how about it?" Wasp inquired, shrinking down and buzzing next to Carol's face. "You've got you fancy powers and cool costume now. Will you help us?" It had been a long time since she'd worked with the Avengers. And to tell the truth, Carol was craving the action and comraderie.
"Yeah. Yeah, of course." She answered with a relieved breath. "I thought I was going crazy. I didn't know who to trust."
"That's understandable, given the rather unsettling nature of these freaks." Cybernaut assured her with a chuckle, nudging the pile of unconscious Skrulls with his boot.
"You won't have to worry any more, Major." Captain America promised.
"We're back now, Carol. The Avengers are back." Iron Man added, closing up his helmet.
The Avengers had assembled… and were ready for war.
Elsewhere on the planet…
Night had fallen. Dark waves lapped against sheer cliffs of rock, kicking up spray as squawking seagulls flew long lazy arcs around the ragged edge where land met sea. High above them, Tony Stark's Malibu mansion was brightly lit, casting a golden glow across the rocky point. Deep in his basement workshop the billionaire sat silently at a desk, looking bedraggled and unkempt. Totally focused on the tech scattered before him (and within his hands) he ignored his beeping ID card as well as his ringing cellphone, which slowly trundled across his desk with each vibration.
"Sir, Miss Potts is attempting to contact you again. She has left multiple messages over the last three weeks." His personal AI, JARVIS, informed him. "I might add that you haven't taken off your armor in that time either… or showered." Tony ignored him, slotting a disc-shaped power cell into a machine no bigger than a coffee-maker.
"Fire it up." He ordered.
"Yes sir. Attempt Forty-Seven in progress." JARVIS dutifully replied as white energy filled the device, expanding outwards to form a slow-turning ring. A blue hologram of the Earth appeared within. "Collecting data… data inconclusive." JARVIS announced after a few seconds. "No extraterrestrial bio-signatures detected within the continental United States." Slumping in his chair, Tony rubbed his temples in defeat as the energy cycle powered down. "Sir, might I remind you that without a test subject-"
"I know." Tony cut him off with a sigh. "So I've either failed again or turned into a crazy paranoid. I'm not sure which is worse." He remarked.
"The latter, sir." JARVIS stated and Tony deadpanned. His phone rang again and Tony let his aggravation get the better of him, turning and blasting the desk clear with a repulsor ray.
The past few weeks had been frought with a desperate search to identity who was a Skrull and who wasn't. Every project, every upgrade, every tweak and enhancement was getting him nowhere. Failure was wearing on him…
A gentle sizzling caught his ear and Tony whirled around to see a cutting torch burning through his exterior wall. Someone was trying to break in! He dove for his Iron Man helmet, only for a pulse of green energy to knock it out of his reach and he went clattering across the floor. Picking himself up, Tony found himself staring down a cloaked figure hovering just beyond the new hole in his wall. Armor overlayed a dark fabric and a hood hid most of his features… but nearly as well as his metal mask did. He hovered poised with arms crossed, holding himself superior and pompously aloof.
"I would like a word with you, Stark." Doctor Doom growled.
Meanwhile…
Within his private safehouse, Nick Fury stood before a whiteboard littered with mugshots of dozens of people. His work to root out the Skrull invaders had racked up quite the tally of the potentially-replaced. Nick was not about to leave anything to chance and wanted to be aggressively through with his study, hence the reason for so many targets drawn up in front of him.
The nine primary Avengers were on it, along with dozens of other individuals. Some were close associates of the team; like Pepper Potts, Tony Stark's ever-faithful secretary. Major Carol Danvers, AKA Miss Marvel. Scott Lang, the new Ant-Man. Paramedic Jane Foster. Matthias Peterson, Cybernaut's younger brother.
Others were fellow superheroes who operated in and around the New York area; including Reed Richards, AKA Mister Fantastic of the Fantastic Four. Benjamin Grimm, aka the Thing. Johnny Storm, AKA the Human Torch. Susan Storm, AKA the Invisible Woman. Tyrone Johnson, also known as 'Cloak' of the heroic duo Cloak and Dagger. The New York vigilante Spider-Man. Luke Cage, formerly 'Power Man' of the Heroes for Hire. Daniel Rand, AKA Iron Fist of the Heroes for Hire. As well as Delroy Garrett Jr., or '3-D Man'.
Some were even people he knew personally; such as Bobbi Morse, AKA Mockingbird and a member of his 'Secret Warriors'. Agent Abigail Brand of SWORD. Agent Phil Coulson of SHIELD. Agent Jimmy Woo of SHIELD. Agent Clay Quartermain of SHIELD. Agent Jace Carson of SHIELD. And Agent Maria Hill of SHIELD.
A handful were people not commonly seen in the hero circles, but Fury was aware of them too and did not neglect to consider them as possible targets; Doctor Hank McCoy, better known as 'Beast' of the X-Men. Wanda Maximoff, the 'Scarlet Witch' of the Brotherhood of Mutants. Logan or 'Wolverine' of the X-Men. Scott Summers, the mutant called 'Cyclops' and leader of the X-Men. And Erik Lehnsherr, the mutant 'Magneto' and leader of the Brotherhood of Mutants. Not to mention Walter Langkowski, a mutant called 'Sasquatch' and a member of the Alpha Flight team based out of Canada.
The rest were a mixture of villains, government-types, outliers, and overall x-factors who Fury was only distantly considering; including Doctor Leonard Samson. Defence Secretary Dell Rusk. General Thaddeus 'Thunderbolt' Ross. Jerome Beechman, the Mandrill. Baron Wolfgang von Strucker of Hydra. George Tarlton, or MODOK. Ophelia Sarkissian, AKA 'Madame Viper' of Hydra. Raymond 'Piranha' Jones. Antonio Rodriguez, the Armadillo. Frank Payne, better known as 'Constrictor' of the Serpent Society. Klaus Voorhees, or 'King Cobra' of the Serpent Society. Gustav Krueger, or 'Rattler' of the Serpent Society. Doctor Arnim Zola. Emil Blonsky, AKA Abomination of the incarcerated Masters of Evil. Curtis Carr, AKA Chemistro of the incarcerated Masters of Evil. And the retired Darren Cross, AKA Crossfire.
Every single mugshot had been noted, circled for further engagement, affirmed with an X that they were not an alien invader, tagged with a question mark to suggest unknown status, or checked off to confirm that they had indeed been replaced and were currently a Skrull.
Footsteps could be heard approaching him from behind, but Nick Fury did not stir, remained transfixed on his board. "Director Fury." Daisy Johnson (the mutant Quake) greeted him.
"I'm not director of SHIELD anymore, Daisy." He replied.
"Understood, Director." She stubbornly responded. "I've got intel, something SHIELD's been keeping quiet. The Incredible Hulk was captured by Ross' Hulkbuster four days ago, but there's been no trace of him. He's off the grid. Gone." She revealed. Nick frowned with his good eye, the news enough to tear his gaze away from his roster of suspects.
"Show me." He ordered.
Back in Wakanda…
The Avengers gathered outside the perimeter of Wakanda's capitol… where T'Challa and his armored Dora Milaje honor guard were waiting. "Is that… Black Panther?" Miss Marvel wondered aloud. He was clad in the regal cape that his father, King T'Chaka, had once worn as well as a necklace of claws and teeth.
"No outsider may set foot within Wakanda!" He shouted to them. "Turn back or be destroyed."
"It is a Skrull." The Black Panther with the Avengers said.
"T'Challa?" Carol trailed off warily…
"Avengers, some of you may be human, others may not be. But hear me now; I will do what I must to protect Wakanda. For your own sakes, turn back." He commanded them.
"That's not going to happen, Skrull." Iron Man retorted as the Avengers collectively readied for battle. "We're not going to let you have the Vibranium mound." Seeing battle looming, Carol's doubts began to rise again. Were they doing the right thing? Was she certain this T'Challa was a Skrull and not the same man who had departed Avengers Mansion?
"Wait! Just wait!" She called out, coming between the two sides with her fists aglow. "We can figure this out. Everyone, just-"
"Khusela Wakanda!" T'Challa ordered in his native tongue. At once, a dozen more members of his royal honor guard stood up from the tall grass, each one armed with a Vibranium power spear pointed right at the team.
"We've taken on Wakanda's warriors before, Skrull." Iron Man sneered, referring to an incident before Cybernaut joined the team. "Vibranium spears aren't going to-" he was interrupted as multiple anti-personnel turrets and cluster-missile launchers popped out of the ground, their double barrels swinging down to target the team, "…stop us."
At once, smoke plumes signalled the launch of a volley of missiles just as violet bolts erupted from the anti-personnel turrets. The team dove in multiple directions as fire and flame detonated where they had been standing…
Back at Tony Stark's home…
Tony had gone on the immediate offensive and was trading shots with Doom, the loud SHRAAAK-RAKKKK-RAKKKK of concussive repulsor volleys filling the room as they impacted Doom's forcefield harmlessly. "I don't have time for whatever petty grudge you're holding against me, Doom!" Tony growled as he unleashed a volley of micromissiles. To his dismay, Doom held up his hand and triggered an inertia field that held the warheads at bay until they dropped harmlessly to the floor. Tony barrelled in with his jets at full blast, slamming into Doctor Doom and driving him into a far wall. He started wailing on him, composite armor struck repeatedly by his armored fists.
"Enough!" Victor bellowed, generating a repulsion field that sent Tony flying across the width of his workshop, where he slammed into several very expensive cars on display. "None lay hands on Doom." The Latverian growled, dusting himself off and slowly striding towards the downed Avenger. "I know what you've been doing here, Stark. Working on your little toy. Searching for the Skrulls hidden among us." The term caught Tony by surprise and he picked himself up, wary but willing to prolong fighting.
"What do you know about the Skrulls?" He demanded.
"That which you do not, Avenger." Doom scornfully replied. "I know how to find them." Flexing his hands, magnets pulled the discarded Iron Man helmet into his grip. He studied the red-gold visage for a moment. "I would have had their genetic key sooner, but you chose to destroy my scanner like an angry child."
"So, what? You're here to help me out of the goodness of your heart?" Tony pried, snatching his helmet back and slipping it on.
"No. This world is mind to rule, and mine alone. These reptiles may not have it." Doom retorted. Then he reached into his belt and withdrew a microchip the size of his palm. "This has been designed to work in conjunction with your detection device. It will allow you to perform a genetic reset on the Skrulls, exposing their true forms." He stated. Tony looked at the device for a moment and then chuckled.
"You couldn't do it alone, could you? You needed my tech to make your little key work." he mused.
"Doom needs no one." Victor coldly responded as Tony took the chip.
"So now what? You're going to fight them with me?" The armored Avenger inquired.
"That would be beneath me." Doom replied as he took flight. "Such chores are what people like you are for." With that derisive remark, he left the same way he entered, leaving Tony alone to take his words in stride… and, more importantly, to study the new piece of tech he'd been given.
At Fury's safehouse…
Captain America and the Hulk were both stopped short by the rumble of machinery approaching from behind. It was the Hulkbuster unit. Tanks, helicopters, APCs, armed and armored soldiers convened on them, surrounding the Avengers as they trained their weapons on Hulk. Major Glenn Talbot emerged in front.
"Hulk! By the authority of SHIELD and the US Army, you are under arrest for the attack on the SHIELD Helicarrier!" He snapped. "Surrender!" Hulk snarled, flexing his muscles as he prepared to defend himself. But Captain America intervened.
"Hulk, no." The jade giant turned to him.
"I didn't attack the Helicarrier, we both know it." He growled.
"I know. I'll talk to Maria Hill," Cap stated calmly, "we'll prove your innocence. But, right now, fighting the Hulkbusters will only make you look guilty." Hulk softened. He looked in Cap's eyes and saw that the man did not want to do this, but the situation dictated otherwise. "Turn to Banner. Go with them. We'll sort it all out." He prompted. "Trust me." Hulk did. And he relinquished control with a sigh.
He shrank down, losing height and weight as well as his verdant color, transforming back into the mild-mannered Bruce Banner. Bruce clutched his head with a groan as Cap steadied him, a pair of Hulkbuster troopers approaching to apprehend him. Steve stepped back with no choice as Bruce was taken into custody.
"No…" He gasped, seeing General Ross step out of the APC, grinning like a madman. "Don't let them take-" A collar was snapped around his neck that shocked him into submission and his wrists were cuffed to deny any further struggle. Bruce Banner was carted off and all Cap could do was watch with a grim look in his eyes…
Nick Fury watched the recording with an equally grim look as he specifically studied Captain America. "He told the Hulk to surrender even though the Hulk claimed he was innocent of the Helicarrier attack… and then he hung him out to dry?" He questioned out loud.
"Not very 'Captain America' of him, is it?" Quake mused.
"Funnily enough, that's not the first time something hasn't been 'very 'Captain America' of him'," Nick continued, switching to a new recording reel. This one was of the day the Avengers had their stand-off with Ronan the Accuser and his Kree forces at the United Nations Plaza.
"Iron Man, please. Just do as Ronan asks!" Mar-Vell begged him. "Surrender. Surrender and we can work something out." Cap glanced up at Ronan, spying energy veins pulsing within the hammerhead of his universal weapon. With grit teeth, he made to open negotiations his way.
"Avengers, attack!" He cried out, hurling his shield hard enough to make Ronan wobbled atop his stand as the projectile zipped past him.
"Cap?!" Tony cried out in surprise, hoping to de-escalate things.
Fury paused the footage, cycling back to Captain America's grit teeth and the noticeable angry look in his eyes. For a man making first contact with the species, he seemed to particularly hate the Kree… "Hmm." Quake hummed, thinking hard as she studied the recording.
"Doesn't seem like a very 'Captain America' thing to do." Miguel remarked, looking over their shoulders.
"You're right about that." Quake agreed. The two remained to watch and study while Fury strode back over to his board. He zeroed in on Captain America's mugshot, which had been X-ed out a long time ago.
"Just when I thought I had him figured out." Fury muttered angrily, slamming his fist into the board. "Miguel. Contact Widow. I want her to bring in Iron Man." He commanded. "Tell him… I found his Skrull."
The Wakandan mechanized division had joined in, and now mainline tanks and battle walkers were assaulting the Avengers in addition to T'Challa's honor guard. Thunder boomed overhead, lightning flashing above the chaotic scene of the Avengers brawling with the Wakandan army. On the sidelines, Miss Marvel watched as tanks were flung around like toys, energy discharges sizzled through the air, and superhumans battled armored militants back and forth in a scene that left her stupified. Her trust and her certainty was wavering. The Avengers were brawling without thought or care, bound and determined to be victorious.
Hulk and Cybernaut dismantled the auto-turrets one by one, the former with brute force and the latter by hopping onto one and using his technopathic powers to force the turret to open fire on the others. Captain America, Black Panther, Thor, Hawkeye, Wasp, and Ant-Man kept dismantling the Dora Milaje, while Iron Man went toe-to-toe with the other T'Challa.
Vibranium daggers ripped through his armor, forcing Tony to back off as other Avengers took his place. The Wakandan battle mechs promptly opened fire with gatling guns and Vibranium-based laser turrets. Forced to act to save Wasp, Miss Marvel flung herself into the line of fire, her energized aura allowing her to withstand the barrage. A single punch from her dismantled the battle mech and drew the attention of two more. A single rocket detonated in close proximity, knocking Carol out of the sky with a cry as she crashed into the ground.
Hawkeye and Wasp were joined by Captain America, and the three quickly subdued T'Challa, allowing Hawkeye to hold him at bay with an arrow held against his forehead: point blank range. Miss Mavel managed to pick herself up just in time to see the archer ready to deliver the killing blow. "Game over." He growled, showing no hesitation.
"Hawkeye, wait!" Carol cried.
"No." He retorted.
Then, suddenly, an arrow struck him in the back and shocked him into unconsciousness with 20,000 volts of electricity. Hawkeye down for the count, Carol, T'Challa, Captain America and Wasp looked up to see who was interfering.
Much to Carol's shock, the Quinjet deposited Janet and Connor onto the battlefield, with Clint arriving aboard his sky-cycle. His bow was at the ready and another arrow was fitted against his bowstring. "Avengers, assemble!" Janet cried out. "But only the human ones!" She quickly added, buzzing over to Miss Marvel. "Carol, we got your call."
"Tried to get here as fast as we could." Connor added. He looked much different from the other Cybernaut on sight, namely he now had something that looked like black armor wrapped around his collar and shoulders, which was connected to a backpack of sorts. This was in addition to his pneumatic gauntlets and shield-projecting belt.
"Cap sent us to help. And you really need to work on your battle cry." Wasp cheekily continued. Carol was stunned.
"Jan, how am I supposed to know it's really you?" She begged her. Janet snorted in amusement.
"Because I'm the awesome one! Duh!" She replied, as if there was any doubt. Suddenly, a biostings struck her shoulder. "YEOUCH!" She darted out of the line of fire, just in time for the other Wasp to arrive.
"Don't listen to her, Carol! She's an imposter!" She cried, taking flight after the other.
"Speaking of which, where's my doppelgänger…" Connor wondered as he formed his irons into batons. "Gonna show him the consequences of identity theft." He huffed, bolting towards the other Cybernaut.
Carol turned back to the fracas. Hawkeye and Hawkeye were down to an archery duel, trading arrows back and forth. Black Panther and Black Panther were squaring off in a display of equal martial arts prowess, their strikes measured and blocked in a fluid nature. The other 'Avengers' were still fighting the Wakandan army… and Miss Marvel was left alone, stuck with her doubts, her questions, and her confusion. She needed an answer-
"Avengers. Everyone target the Panther!" Iron Man ordered. Thor was the first to move to his aid. Carol knew she needed to figure out who to help and quick. She needed a straight answer.
"Connor!" She called out, flying over to the two dueling technopaths.
"What?" they both asked in unison.
"Please, just… I need to know." She implored them, alighting between the two. "Tell me something only you and I would know." The first and less-armed Cybernaut scratched the back of his head.
"Well, you started floating out of your bed uncontrollably when your powers first manifested." He proffered. That was true. He and Janet had been the only ones to view the debut of her powers and had managed to get her back in bed before any doctors were summoned. She looked to the newcomer for his response, and he looked her straight in the eye.
"Matt was pretty giddy after you kissed him on the cheek, post-pizza night." He described. "Wouldn't stop talking about it for days." As far as she knew, only Janet and Matthias knew about that. She never told Connor nor had he asked. Would a Skrull fake have his cellphone? Or had the other been lying this whole time?
A deafening boom rattled the area and all eyes turned to see Thor fall from the sky as one of the tanks shot him down… but his hammer, Mjolnir, had been cracked open… revealing advanced technology within allowing it to control the stormy weather. Thor and 'Mjolnir' fell atop another tank, and a blinding explosion consumed all with a brilliant blue glow. It drew everyone's attention, everyone shielding themselves from the shockwaves that rippled out.
Miss Marvel darted over to the crater left behind. There was no sign of a tank. Only Thor had been left behind. She rolled him over… and recoiled in horror to see his skin had turned a shade of deep green, his ears had grown long and pointed, and his chin was riddled with bumpy striations.
He was a Skrull!
Standing shocked for a moment longer, realizing the jig was up, Miss Marvel was soon joined by a caped T'Challa who had his unconscious duplicate draped over one shoulder. He hopped down into the crater and peeled off the other Panther's mask… revealing the face of yet another Skrull underneath. The grave error now recognized, Carol's heart sank.
"T'Challa… I'm sorry. I-I didn't know." She apologized. "I didn't know what to do."
"I assume you do now." The real Black Panther said. Looking towards the remaining Skrull imposters, wearing the faces of their friends and allies. Carol's brow furrowed, she grit her teeth, and golden energy glowed brighter than ever from her clenched fists.
"Yeah…" She ground out, madder than ever, and charged the Skrulls with a shrieking war cry…
Back in Malibu…
Having hung up his armor for construction, Tony pried apart the chest plate and opened the lid on the central ARC reactor magnification array. With carefully soldered circuits in place, he slowly inserted Doctor Doom's microchip into the centre, taking his time to make sure his Stark tech was properly meshed with Doom tech. The Latverian used a different setup than he, so Tony needed to find a way to merge the two.
He did so successfully, the ARC reactor sparking to life and glowing brightly as the Doomtech was integrated into his armor's broader systems. Tony was impressed. "Well now, JARVIS, I think we might need to put Doctor Doom on the Christmas card list." He said aloud.
"Duly noted, sir." His AI answered.
"Iron Man." A new feminine voice called out. Tony whirled, raising the gauntlets he still wore with the repulsors primed just in case. There behind him stood Natasha Romanoff, the Black Widow, her silent entrance having gone undetected by even his security system. "Fury needs to see you. Now." She stated, leaving no room for debate.
Back in Wakanda…
Cybernaut was beating the stuffings out of his Skrull imposter, using his pneumatic gloves to beat the alien black and blue as he slugged him relentlessly across the face. "I've had it with these damn aliens taking our damn faces!" He growled, punching the Skrull so hard that blood and teeth erupted from his mouth. His duplicate staggered and Connor lunged ahead with a shout, delivering a powerful overhead blow that drove the Skrull face-first into the dirt, knocking him out cold.
Wasp dove in to attack the Ant-Man Skrull with her biostings, keeping him distracted just long enough for her to grow to normal size and knockout Hank's lookalike with one punch. She smiled as she wrung out her wrist, looking down upon his comatose form with a proud smirk. "That felt kinda good." She remarked.
One Hawkeye knocked down the other with a lunge kick, his bow flung from the arhcer's grip. The Hawkeye wasted no time fitting and arrow and letting fly, believing he had the other down for the count. But in a sudden display of superior skill and deft agility, the other Hawkeye snatched the arrow out of the air, spurn around and sent it hurtling back towards its owner. Shocked, that Hawkeye ducked as the electro-arrow knocked out the Skrull Wasp behind him. He looked on in shock. "No… n-no one's that good." He stammered, shocked beyond words by the feat.
"Guess what? I am." Hawkeye retorted, landing a massive haymaker that knocked out his duplicate for good.
Miss Marvel had singlehandledy mollywhopped the Hulk into submission and Black Panther had just finished off Captain America. Only Iron Man remained. "Hey, Skrull! I'm not done with you yet!" Carol roared, shooting in like a meteorite and planting a punch so hard, the faux Iron Man armor shattered into billions of metal shards and sent the imposter careening through Wakanda's long grass. The other Avengers gathered around as Miss Marvel planted her boot against the Skrull's chest and crushed his ARC reactor underfoot. "Do yourself a favour. Stay down." She growled. The Skrull coughed and spluttered, peeling off his ruined helmet to reveal his alien features.
"You believe this is over? It hasn't even begun." He retorted.
"What do you want? Why are you doing this?" Carol demanded.
"This is our world. It was promised to us, as it is written in the Skrull prophecies." The alien stated, shoving her boot off as he made to stand. He picked himself up, determined to look the Avengers in the eye. "We are only taking what's ours."
"Who else?" Hawkeye snapped. "Who else is a Skrull? And where are they?" The Skrull merely chuckled.
"We are everywhere. You will see." He answered with a smug grin.
"And when we do, you're gonna make mincemeat of you all." Cybernaut threatened. The Skrull wasted no time raising his repulsors, still ready to fight… But Cybernaut hurled his irons, Miss Marvel blasted his photons, Wasp fired her biostings, Hawkeye loosed an arrow, and Black Panther threw a dagger, putting the alien down for good.
The battlefield was a smoking desolation. In the middle of scorched and upturned earth, the Avengers laid the Skrull team in an unconscious heap, satisfied with another job done. Somewhat.
"At least they're pushovers. I didn't even get to test my new toys." Connor remarked.
"Normally I'd be happy about that. But I'm worried about how well they managed to be us. Like, perfect copy well." Janet commented. "That means anyone anywhere could be one!"
"Well, this is bad." Miss Marvel noted as she sized up the situation.
"Yeah. We need to get back to New York, like yesterday." Hawkeye echoed.
"All of us. Together, as Avengers." Wasp agreed.
"Quinjet's still warm and ready to fly." Cybernaut stated, glancing at the distant Black Panther. "T'Challa? We could really use your help." He asked, hopeful.
"No. My duty is here." The Wakandan replied, turning his back to them.
"Are you kidding me?!" Hawkeye grumbled in disbelief.
"What has changed? Even now, we can trust no one. Not even each other." T'Challa responded.
"What changed is that we just came in and saved Wakanda from an alien invasion!" Hawkeye retorted. "You're welcome, by the way." Miss Marvel stepped between them.
"Knock it off, both of you." She ordered crisply. "I don't care who we can trust. Earth's in trouble. It's our job to save it. That's what Avengers do, right?" She looked to Black Panther, who stayed silent. Without another word, his stance already made clear, he turned and took his lead in order to tend to Wakanda.
Cybernaut watched him go, shoulders slumping dejectedly as his former-friend once again turned his back on them. He still felt it much more acutely on a personal level. He inhaled sharply, looking forlorn. Wasp stepped closer, squeezing his hand sympathetically as the two shared a nod. He offered a nod of acceptance and she smiled, feeling a bit better about being there for him. At least their shared trust managed to build a far stronger bond throughout this whole ordeal…
Elsewhere…
"You're a lucky man, Fury. Guess who's got a Skrull detector installed in his armor?" Tony boasted proudly as he stood behind Nick Fury in his safehouse. The director had not budged from in front of his wall of suspects since Iron Man arrived. "I'll give you a hint-"
"She should have told me." He part-muttered and part-growled.
"No, that's not… wait, what?" A confused Iron Man wondered aloud. "Who should've told you what?" Nick stayed silent for a moment, his gaze focused on Mockingbird, her mugshot X-ed out as he believed her to be clean…
"She was in charge of surveillance on SHIELD." He continued, putting the pieces together. "She should have told me about the Hulk's attack on the Helicarrier. She didn't." He turned around to Tony, finding Black Widow and Quake close by. "Let Miguel know to go to ground. We've been infiltrated." He ordered them. "Mockingbird, she-" A sudden rifle round knocked Fury to the ground, out cold. Successive rounds echoed in the small space and soon Black Widow and Quake fell too, ambushed from behind. Emerging from the shadows, Mockingbird had a SHIELD-issue rifle in hand and was holding Iron Man at gunpoint.
"You know, hun, you're more likely to hurt yourself than me if you fire that." The Avenger promised.
"I know. She answered calmly, lowering her weapon. "You see, I know everything there is to know about you and your armor, Iron Man. That's how we were able to upload the virus." Tony blinked.
"What vi-" He was cut off as an electromagnetic shocked ripped through his ARC reactor, causing him to scream in agony as his life-support functions ran haywire. He collapsed as armor subsystems shut down one by one, effectively trapping him in his own alloy coffin. "J-JARVIS-!" He ground out.
"Warning. Alien virus detected. All systems compromised." His AI reported. "ARC reactor compromised. Biological systems compromised." Iron Man managed to snap open his faceplate, grinding his teeth together as he sporadically groaned and moaned in severe pain as his very heart was attacked. Through the pain, he realized the truth… that had not been Doctor Doom who paid him a visit and that had not been the key to identifying Skrulls he had installed into his armor.
"You are a dangerous man, Anthony. Of all the humans, you were the one that could have found a way to see us for what we were. You were their leader. We have no wish for you to suffer. But these things, they are as it is written." Mockingbird purred in a silken, regal voice as she knelt before his rigid form, locked in place on the ground. She reached out to caress his cheek with her hand and Tony watched in shock as pale skin turned green. "It won't be long now." He looked up, into the face of the Skrull behind the Mockingbird disguise. "This is Queen Veranke. Iron Man and Nick Fury have been dealt with." She reported into a commlink.
"Commence with the invasion."