It's a massive war of the worlds, true believers! The Skrull invasion has begun and the world's heroes are gonna need all the help they can get! Do they have what it takes to stop a shape-shifting army? Or does this spell the end of it all? Follow along as the mighty Avengers struggle to overcome this-
Chapter 36: Secret Invasion
At a covert AIM facility on Earth, preparations were underway for the most ambitious project that was masterminded by their very own Scientist Supreme. Nearly a dozen yellow-suited drones manned computer terminals and data consoles as the images of multiple satellites orbiting the planet appeared on monitors before them. "Sir, the satellite at coordinates C-Twenty-One has been hacked." A drone reported.
"G-Zero-Five is ready, sir. That's the last one." Another announced. "The planet's entire satellite array is AIM's, at your command." From his position above, the Scientist Supreme oversaw the mission.
"Excellent." Lyle Getz mused in a satisfied tone.
"Scientist Supreme," a drone called out as he approahced with a clipboard in hand, "I was running the numbers on these frequencies."
"And?"
"Once the satellite array we've modified is activated, it'll wipe out every human on the planet." The drone stated worriedly. "Everyone. There's no defence against it." Lyle seemed undisturbed by the evaluation, turning and walking as if nothing were wrong with that analysis.
"That is correct." He affirmed. Now the drone was really worried.
"But… won't we get wiped out, too?" He asked as Lyle pulled off his helmet.
"Yes." Was all Lyle had to say, turning around and aiming a handgun at the drone. He wasted no time pulling the trigger, shooting the drone point blank and knocking his body off the observation deck and down into the terminals below. Showing no hesitation, Lyle proceeded to gun down the other AIM drones, shooting them one by one until their bodies lay still on the floor of the observatory. With his grisly work completed, his face began to transform, morphing like clay from the appearance of Lyle Getz into his true form: that of Skrull agent X'iv. "As it is written." The alien pronounced.
Around the world, a plan was coming to fruition.
Aboard Damocles Base orbiting the Earth, Agent Jaketch in the guise of SWORD director Henry Gyrich took command of the chronal drive deep within the inner workings of the confiscated warship, priming it to detonate in three minutes.
Down on the planet below, Agent Pitt'o Nili in the guise of Captain America planted explosives through the lower levels of Avengers Mansion in all the important wings the superhero team made good use of.
Within the Baxter Building, Agent De'Lila in the guise of the Invisible Woman accessed the building's particle generator in the lab of Reed Richards, priming a quantum surge set to go off in three minutes.
In the skies over New York, Agent Kreddik in the guise of Agent Clay Quartermain of SHIELD strode calmly onto the bridge of the Helicarrier. He began accessing the vessel's sub-systems via the primary terminal. "Quartermain." Acting-director Hill called from behind him. He refused to respond. "Agent Quartermain." Maria called out again, and still he did not respond. He was determined to finish his work. "Clay!" Maria barked. Then she stopped short as the monitors across the bridge flashed red and announced SYSTEM OVERRIDE. At once, a countdown began underneath it, boiling down from three minutes. "What did you do…?" Maria gasped.
"The Skrull Empire has taken possession of your planet. I will require SHIELD's full surrender." Kreddik announced, turning on Maria and drawing his sidearm. And he wasn't the only one.
The rest of the bridge crew were all Skrulls too, Maria back-stepping in shock as Jasper Sitwell stood, removed his glasses, and transformed into Agent Hag'r and stood beside Kreddik. The face of Clay Quartermain was exchanged for that of a long-eared, striated-chinned, green-skinned alien and Maria found herself all alone. She acted quickly and decisively.
"Maria Hill to all Helicarrier personnel. Omega priority, if there are any humans left on this crate, evac right now!" She ordered into her comms.
"How disappointing." Kreddik mused. "I liked you, Maria. You could have had a position of power among the human slaves." Maria shot him a simple smirk.
"When all this is over, I'm going to get a t-shirt made. Know what it's going to say?" She asked nonchalantly. But Kreddik wasn't having it.
"Eliminate her." At once, he Hag'r and the others opened fire simultaneously with their sidearms, punching holes clean through Maria and knocking her to the deck. Sparks flashed, circuits fizzled, the Life Model Decoy had taken irreparable damage, but had enough juice left to raise its head as the image of Maria continued to smirk.
"It'll say… 'Nick Fury was right'." She stated before the LMD shut down.
Within the Helicarrier, Jace received Maria's warning over comms. Within the bowels of the ship, he sprinted through to the Human Resources wing where Jennifer Walters stood in her office, looking out a porthole at New York harbour below. She seemed oddly calm and peaceful for an Omega Priority making the rounds.
"Jen! Pack whatever files you want and grab the hard drive backup!" He tasked. At the sound of his voice, Jennifer turned and slowly removed her glasses.
"I'm afraid I won't be doing either of those things." She replied, her familiar visage suddenly morphing into that of a Skrull. The agent stood slack-jawed for a moment, his first encounter with a Skrull leaving him speechless as Jennifer Walters morphed into Agent Ryn'nl. "I have a far more glorious purpose in mind. As it is written." She purred.
Jace was overcome, first with shock, then with fear, then with rage. This… thing had done something to his beloved Jenny. He snapped up his pistol and fired, first a half-dozen rounds that struck her in the face then the underslung skeleton key attachment that pumped her full of buckshot. As the Skrull lay dead on the ground in a growing puddle of her own blood, Jace turned on heel and booked it out of the Helicarrier. He needed to leave…
But more importantly, he needed to find the real Jennifer.
Above the Earth, light began to swirl in the middle of space, rings of color breaking up the darkness of the universe. Exiting from within, a stolen Skrull shuttle advanced on Damocles Base. On board, the impersonated heroes and villains, free from Skrull captivity, were hellbent on getting to Earth to warn everyone. "Nice work, Clay. Can you get us down to the surface? We have to warn the world." Captain America urged.
"We can dock with the SWORD space station and send a warning from there. They may be compromised, but it's the closest option we've got." Clay replied.
"Good. Make it so." Steve affirmed. Straightening up, he turned around to check on the other escapees. On-board fabrication tech helped them spruce up their otherwise damaged costumes and uniforms, ensuring they were spruced up and ready for an inevitable fight. Among them, Jennifer Walters and Susan Storm had sufficiently recovered. Bobbi Morse had repaired her Mockingbird costume and was itching for action. Henry Gyrich was still muttering about what could be going wrong and why he had to have been nabbed. King Cobra and Lyle Getz were still out cold. But Cobalt and Viper were awake, conversing quietly together. Cap had his suspicions, not trusting either of the villains but knowing their cooperation would help in dealing with the Skrulls.
They would have to be dealt with afterwards. They had bigger problems at hand.
Aboard Damocles, Sydren picked up proximity alarm first. "We have a new contact. Damocles is beginning analysis." He announced to the bridge. Then the terminal began bringing up alarming internal diagnostics. He quickly keyed up a report breakdown and the data that flashed before him was horrifying. "Damocles Base, teleport all SWORD personnel off the station now!" He yelped, desperate to save his own skin just as much as he was the skin of his fellow SWORD agents.
Back in Fury's safehouse…
Black Widow, Quake and Nick Fury were still unconscious on the floor. Tony Stark was just barely alive, still sealed in his malfunctioning Iron Man armor, his lifespan reduced to a matter of seconds. He needed help, now.
Unfortunately, someone was still here who was going to deny him help for the foreseeable future.
"It won't be long now, can you feel it?" Veranke hummed as she stroked his face with the back of her hand. Her Mockingbird disguise had long since been discarded, now she wore the robes of the Skrull Queen; ornate, expensive, and revealing. "I know you do. After all, we couldn't have done this without you, Anthony. You were what held the Avengers together, and without you they were so easy to eliminate, one by one." She gloated in a soft, silken voice. Leaving Tony on the floor, she strode over to Fury's array of computers, where the monitors were frozen on the image of Captain America. She realized Nick Fury had learned the truth but had yet to make it known.
Worse yet, his centralized radar system was picking up an incoming target.
Veranke checked the vital statistics and frowned. She triggered her personal commlink. "There is a Quinjet approaching, and our Wakandan contingent isn't reporting. The remaining Avengers must have survived. Divert them to Washington. I want them to witness this." She ordered.
"I understand, my Queen." Pitt'o Nili responded. Down on the floor, Iron Man's eyes shot wide open as he recoginzed the voice and cursed himself for having not realized it sooner.
Captain America had been the Skrull on the team this whole time!
Around the world, the three minute timers counted down to zero. Multiple explosions ripped through Damocles Base as the entire warship was reduced to fire and smoke, destroyed entirely and leaving the fate of the crew on board in question.
Within the Baxter Building, shrill alarms disturbed Human Torch and Thing's video game time, prompting Mister Fantastic to investigate the lab, where De'Lila waited in Invisible Woman's costume. "As it is written." She told the speechless Reed, just as temporal energies consumed the whole of the building and appeared to erase it from existence…
Fleets of VTOL's, sky-strikers, helicopters, and other craft left the SHIELD Helicarrier in droves just before explosions tore through the engines and continued to spread across the hull. They were so violent the airship's spine was snapped and massive chunks of the Helicarrier began raining down into the harbour below, creating massive waves that struck the shoreline and wetted up to 2 city blocks away.
On an adjacent pier, Maria watched the agonizing death of the ship from safety, removing the neural harness that kept her linked with the LMD on the bridge. From what she could tell, all the Skrulls had died aboard, but the real cleanup would have to happen later. "I've had the same car since I was nineteen years old, never had a problem. This thing falls out of the sky every other Tuesday." She griped.
The explosives placed beneath Avengers Mansion set off with immense force, so much so a glow could be seen within the Mansion proper. Dayna McCree, enjoying a walk on her day off, was quick to notice a sudden energy spike thanks to an alarm from her wrist-cuff. She checked the statistics, realizing it was not the Avengers' doing.
"That's not good." She muttered, quickening her pace and moving towards Avengers Mansion.
Aboard the Quinjet…
Captain America's hologram shimmered to life on the central console. "Avengers, do not make landfall in New York. You have to go to Washington." He commanded.
"Washington?" Wasp repeated quizzically.
"We're five minutes out from DeeCee." Carol reported from the pilot's chair.
"What's happening?" Hawkeye asked.
"Another Skrull ship just touched down." Cap replied. "I'm on my way now. Cap out." His hologram faded out and Carol immediately adjusted course, kicking the jet's twin scram engines into gear.
"We need to call Iron Man." Janet determined, sitting between the two. "We need to bring in Hank, and the Fantastic Four, and-"
"And what?" Hawkeye cut in.
"And if they help us, then they're the good guys!" Janet explained, desperate for reinforcements.
"Sunny optimism will only get us so far, Jan." Miss Marvel dourly commented.
"Let's land in Washington first and assess the ship. If it's bigger than the last one, we'll call for backup." Cybernaut suggested from the weapons terminal. "The Skrulls from the last one weren't that hard to take out."
"Once we got our heads screwed on straight." The Major muttered in addition. Suddenly, an alarm began to ping.
"Carol! Bogey, ten o'clock!" Connor cried, moments before a bright light engulfed the forward viewscreen. The Avengers shielded their eyes, unable to react in time as a sudden energy bolt sheared off the left wing of the Quinjet. Immediately the aircraft began to nosedive, smoke trailing from the smouldering remains of the left wing. Miss Marvel struggled to regain control of their downfall.
"Hang onto something!" She growled, fighting with the stick to try and bring their wounded ride down as safely as possible. She aimed past the Potomac, dragging the nose as high as it would go to clear the Lincoln Memorial while aiming right for the Reflecting Pool stretched out in front of the building. Crashing into the water, the Quinjet pirouetted across the surface until it hopped the edge and slid to a halt on the grass behind the Capitol Building. The Avengers within were shaken and rattled but otherwise unharmed, all of them breathing a collective sigh of relief.
"Another happy landing." Cybernaut quipped. "Now what the hell shot us down?"
"Time to find out." Rising from her seat, Carol punched out the cracked forward glass and led the way out, the other three following close behind as they scanned their surroundings. At first, the grounds appeared empty, almost desolate.
"Where is everyone…?" Wasp wondered as the Avengers prepared for combat.
"Stay sharp." Hawkeye fitted an arrow and pulled his bowstring taut as Miss Marvel charged up her fists with photon energy. "Your mind reading anything?"
"Negative." Cybernaut answered as he dripped his batons. "It's just us."
"There's nobody here." Despite the emptiness, Wasp charged her stings just in case. It was then that Hawkeye turned around and turned his gaze to the sky… and his eyes grew wide.
"Then they're smarter than us." He commented.
The Avengers turned and were just a speechless as he was. Looming over the Capitol, a massive alien vessel blotted out the sun as it loomed menacingly in the sky. It was far bigger than anything they had seen so far, and Miss Marvel would've guessed it could've been the same size, if not bigger than, Damocles.
"If what landed in Wakanda was just a shuttle… I'd say that's a battleship." Cybernaut said quietly, awed by the enemy.
"They want a war." Miss Marvel realized.
"And they'll get one." Wasp stated confidently.
Shapes began to descend from the battleship, growing into bipedal forms the closer they drew. They were Skrulls, adorned in all kinds of colorful, hauntingly familiar costumes. They were the elite, the best warriors the Skrull Empire had to offer. And they had drawn inspiration from the powers and abilities of Earth's mightiest heroes and terrifying villains:
Kl'rt, the premiere Super-Skrull, led the charge. A metal patch covered his left eye as he flexed the quadruple powers of the Fantastic Four. With him was an entire squad of Super-Skrulls; the muscular Z'reg with the combined powers of Whirlwind, Abomination, and Griffin. The athletic Klrr with the combined powers of Grim Reaper and King Cobra. The menacing Paibok embodying the powers of Thor. The cunning Rl'nnd combining the powers of the mutants Wolverine, Cyclops and Colossus. The devious Khn'nr fusing the abilities of Mr. Fantastic, Iron Man and Black Bolt. The massive Criti Noll combining the powers of Giant-Man, Crimson Dynamo and Klaw. The lanky Pagon taking the abilities of Black Panther, Iron Fist and Spider-Man. The cruel Jazinda using an erratic combination of the powers of Wasp, Cybernaut and Cobalt.
The four Avengers were completely surrounded by nine Super-Skrulls, each worth the power and presence of three of the world's most notable heroes put together. They would be in for the fight of their lives and they knew it. "Well… at least we know they're Skrulls." Janet mused as she and Carol moved back to back with Clint and Connor.
"The four of us against the world." Connor remarked.
"Looks that way." Clint agreed, drawing his bow taut.
"Well, I couldn't have asked for better people to do this with." The technopath added.
"Anyone wanna surrender?" Hawkeye asked the Skrulls. Silence. Eerie silence. "Didn't think so." He surmised then cast a glance over his shoulder at Carol. "Told ya I wasn't a Skrull."
"If we survive this, I'll apologize." She retorted.
"Good enough for me." The archer affirmed. "NOW!" He shouted, loosing an arrow. The other Avengers bolted forward, engaging the battle-ready Super-Skrulls…
Meanwhile, in New York…
Despite a mess being made of the lower levels, the Mansion-proper of Avengers Mansion remained standing. For now.
The main doors flung open, multiple Skrulls morphing out of their civilian appearances to take the shape of a highly-trained shocktrooper unit. "Agent Nili has already dealt with the lower levels. Plant demolition charges across the surface level, reduce it to rubble." The team leader ordered. His men moved to obey… but were suddenly halted.
"Now that's not very nice." A feminine voice called to them. Emerging into the foyer, Dayna McCree made her presence known. "People live here, you know." She added. At once, the Skrulls trained their weapons on her.
"Who are you?" The team leader demanded.
"Building security." She remarked with a smirk, toggling her wrist-cuff. Her clothes shimmered and were immediately replaced by her dark Kree uniform, the only thing left to identify her being her grinning mouth. The Skrulls were shocked.
"Kree?!" The leader exclaimed in disbelief.
"And don't you forget it!" Dayna retorted, her transmogrification gauntlets forging a pair of pistols that appeared within her hands. She wasted no time attacking the Skrulls, shooting them point blank as she hurried to close the gap. By the time they had come to their senses and formulated a counterattack, she was already upon them. Her pistols transmuted into a pair of knives and Dayna took to cutting the Skrulls left and right, slitting throats, gouging skulls and gutting bodies with the deadly skill of a black ops agent.
A dozen Skrulls had entered Avengers Mansion. After less than ten minutes, all twelve lay dead on the floor.
"Hoo boy… haven't worked out like that in a while." Dayna mused as she stretched, standing proud atop a pile of disemboweled Skrulls. Forging a pistol from her transmog-cuff, she withdrew a small canister from her belt and slotted it into the rear of her weapon. Taking aim at the bodies underneath her, she pulled the trigger and engulfed the lot with a fast-acting dissolver. The Skrull remains were slowly reduced to a mere pile of liquid and Dayna deemed her work here done. "JARVIS, erase all security camera footage from the past forty minutes… and direct self-repair functions to the foyer, there's a stain on the floor." She ordered the house AI. "Oh! And delete all information about my existence from your memory banks, okay?"
"Understood, ma'am." JARVIS dutifully responded.
Avengers Mansion was secure for the time being. Nick Fury's safehouse, not so much.
The undercover SHIELD director was only just coming to, the effects of the point-blank shot from Veranke finally wearing off. He was just awake enough to take notice of Veranke making use of his database… and Veranke noticed him as well. "Nicholas… I've enjoyed watching the master spy fail so badly at his own game. You let your enemy know everything you knew, every move you made…" she whispered, strutting over and kneeling beside him, "but now it's over." Veranke withdrew a pistol from her robes and primed it to maximum charge. "You and your Secret Warriors have played your part."
"Glad… to help." Nick rasped, trying to move his limbs. Veranke chuckled and stood, taking aim at his helpless form.
"Good-Bye."
All of a sudden, a breaching charge blew the door wide open. A shocked Nick and Veranke could barely comprehend the fact that Miguel had returned, and had brought Maria Hill with him. The two opened fire on the Skrull Queen with matching twin pistols, successfully shooting Veranke's firearm out of her grip as well as the bomb she had planted to destroy the subdued heroes. The two chased her across the warehouse until Veranke threw herself through a window.
"For some kinda royalty, she's not half-bad." A surly Maria quipped.
"Gawk later!" Miguel retorted. "Help Fury, I'll track her down." Shooting open one of the boarded up windows, he lunged through and gaze chase. Maria holstered her weapons and turned to find a fully-revived Nick crouching over the disabled Iron Man.
"How did you find me?" He asked.
"I found you two months ago, I just didn't tell anyone." Maria replied. "You're lucky my partner was smart enough to look for me outside. I haven't seen him in months, you know." She added crossly.
"Save it. Status report." Fury barked. Reverting back to all-business mode, Maria was quick to give him a brief description of the unfolding problem.
"The Skrulls have taken down the Helicarrier, SWORD, a few dozen military installations around the globe, and something really bad happened to the Baxter Building." She told him in one breath. "Oh, and the remaining Avengers? They're about to get taken out in DeeCee."
"Not good. About what I planned for, but still not good." Fury grumbled as he opened a panel on Iron Man's gauntlet and toggled the security release code.
"Do we even have a plan?" Maria wondered.
"Right now, Iron Man's the plan." Fury answered. "All we have to do is save his life." Reaching up, he loosened Tony's helmet and peeled it off, freeing his jaw.
"How… H-How did you-" He spluttered.
"Focus. What now?" Fury cut in.
"Take it out." Tony rasped.
"Take what out?"
"My… My heart." Nick Fury immediately began peeling off his chest plate in order to access the ARC reactor.
"Don't you need that to, you know, live?" Maria wondered.
"Won't… live much longer…" Tony responded between breaths, loosing a cry of pain as Nick pulled the ARC reactor from his chest.
Miss Marvel blasted Paibok and Rl'nnd with twin photon beams just before Z'reg took flight behind her and punched her out using the gamma-enhanced strength of Abomination. Carol hit the deck hard, but blasted him out of the air in retort. She turned and laid Klrr out flat before he could attack, only for the heroine to be struck from behind by Paibok's fake Mjolnir.
Hawkeye moved to intercept, loosing three arrows towards the Thor-inspired Skrull. Two were shot out of the air by Rl'nnd's optical force beams, but a third ice arrow struck the Super-Skrull and coated Paibok head to two in inches of solid ice. Drawing his heaviest explosive arrow, Hawkeye shot Kl'rt at near-point blank range and sent him flying. Hawkeye was then also sent flying as Rl'nnd attacked him from behind and shot him in the back.
The mutant-inspired Skrull turned his attention on Wasp, attempting to shoot her out of the air as she nimbly ducked and rolled around his crimson bolts. Khn'nr attempted to aid, using the elasticity to stretch his body across the gap in an effort to snag the heroine. But Janet moved far quicker and riddled the back of his head with bio-stings. With him dealt with, she made to move, only to be caught in the sizeable hand of Criti Noll, who used the electro-conductors in his armored hand to shock Janet unconscious and drop her to the ground next to Miss Marvel.
Seeing the trouble her friend was in, Carol tried to make a break for it and engage the Super-Skrulls again. But the supersized foot of Criti Noll came crashing down upon her, knocking her out cold and burrowing Carol into the dirt.
The Super-Skrulls turned their attention to the remaining Avenger. With three down for the count, only Cybernaut remained. The technopath finsihed beating Jazinda black and blue, knocking the she-warrior down with a barrage from his irons. "Want a tip? You don't look good in yellow." He remarked, recalling his weapons to form a staff. Connor looked up to see who was next, only to find all of the Super-Skrulls ready for him. "Oh, you wanna play rough? Fine then." He growled. His backpack reacted and sprouted a pair of emitters over his shoulders. "Let's play rough." Twin beams of orange plasma erupted from his over-the-shoulder casters and bowled over Rl'nnd and Paibok. Connor then took flight, shooting another pair of beams that struck Criti Noll right in the face. He dove in, using the Skrull's disorientation to his advantage, and drove his staff with all his might into his chin. Teeth and bone crunched as Criti Noll toppled over and Cybernaut touched down, bolting towards the nearest Skrull.
All of a sudden, Pagon bolted in and kicked him in the ribs, throwing him off course. Kl'rt moved in next, hammering Connor across the face with fists made of rock-like skin. Khn'nr then stopped up, using the faux-ARC reactor in his chest to blast Cybernaut away, the hero skidding across the grass. Until he slowed near the steps of the Capitol. With a grunt of pain, he righted himself, clutching bruised ribs as he forced himself to his knees. The Skrulls converged, Kl'rt at the forefront.
"Give up, slave. You are one. We are many." He sneered. "Surrender, and this ends." Connor looked up, his eyes flashing brightly beneath his mask.
"You'll never stop with just me." He retorted, refashioning his irons into batons. His shield projector sprang to life as a glow filled his plasma casters. "I don't care if I'm the only one left… I'll take you all on!" Breaking into a sprint, the technopath rushed them headlong. His plasma cannons opened fire, knocking Paibok and Z'reg down as his shields weathered blows from Rl'nnd's force beams. He closed in on the X-Men Skrull, beating him with his batons over and over as the clang of metal on metal rang out. The organic steel skin of Colossus was a formidable defence, but Rl'nnd was not used to its power. Connor smashed his jaw in with his batons before rolling over the Skrull and moving on another, clashing with Pagon. The agility and prowess of three hand-to-hand combatants made him lethal, but Black Panther himself had trained Connor, and the technopath knew what to look for. He beat the Skrull across the face with his batons before sending his irons flying and striking Pagon in the back of the head. The Skrull doubled over, right into Connor's rising knee.
Pagon was knocked out the Avenger recalled his irons, just in time to withstand a bolt of lightning from Paibok's hammer. His plasma casters blasted him away and then blasted Khn'nr away too. Connor was ready to keep going… when a collar was suddenly clamped around his neck.
All at once, he felt his technopathic powers go silent. Deathly silent, like they never even existed. His irons fell from his hands as his control over every piece of tech failed. Cybernaut stumbled to his knees, struggling with the fact he had been rendered powerless. He was nothing without his mutation. "That's enough, Connor." A voice softly encouraged him. His eyes when wide. He knew that voice. Connor looked over his shoulder, meeting the gaze of the one who subdued him, and his heart sank.
"You…" He breathed, horror, rage and despair swelling within him.
There stood Captain America, grinning smugly above him. Only now, Connor finally realized it wasn't the real Captain America. Just another damn Skrull.
Klrr strode over, grabbing Cybernaut by the arms and forcing him to his feet. Nearby, Z'Reg had Hawkeye gripped in a similar position, Rl'nnd had the unconscious Miss Marvel draped over his shoulder, and Paibok held the recovering Wasp in one hand. As they were lined up as Hawkeye struggled to break free. "Easy. Take it easy. We're all friends here." Pitt'o Nili remarked. Clint's eyes shot open at the realization and his voice helped Janet come around. When she discovered all her friends were held prisoner, but Captain America stood amongst the Skrulls, she put the pieces together.
"No…!" She gasped in sorrowful horror.
"You. All this time, you were the Skrull!" Hawkeye angrily snarled and Pitt'o allowed his smug grin to remain. At last, Hawkeye broke free of Z'Reg and bolted towards Pitt'o, ready to punch his lights out. But Paibok channeled a bolt of lightning from his fake Mjolnir and took Clint down, the archer falling to his knees before the fake Captain America. Pitt'o never flinched. He then turned to the small crowd of local reporters covering the battle and pointed to one of the cameramen.
"Khn'nr, bring him to me." The Super-Skrull obeyed, stretching over to the terrified crew and snatching the designated cameraman and his equipment up in long, tendril-like arms. He brought him to the foot of the steps, where the trembling human stared up at Captain America. "Broadcast this." Pitt'o ordered. The man nodded slowly, lifting the lens and putting the fake Avenger into focus. As the attack on Washington was bring broadcasted live around the world, Pitt'o Nili found himself with a captive audience of several million humans.
"This message is for all of humanity. My name is Captain America. I'm one of you. I've spent my life fighting for freedom, for liberty, for the human right to live. But something has happened. An alien race has travelled across the universe to come here. They've made contact with governments all around the world, and they're not here to hurt us. They're here to save us from ourselves." He lied. Everyone around the world was watching. From students in schools, to families in their homes, to people on streets watching televisions in shop windows, to civilians in restaurants and coffee shops watching on their phones. "They see that our planet is on the brink of disaster, but they also see the potential in us. And these people, the Skrulls, they want to help. Where we've failed, they'll succeed. They'll eliminate hunger, poverty, war, disease, and the Skrulls will save the Earth itself… all we have to do is let them. This is what they offer. Our ways aren't working. I ask you now, my friends… embrace change." He urged them all.
"They're good, I'll give 'em that." Nick Fury remarked as he too witnessed the broadcast. His efforts getting his secret database up and working were not proving successful, and words of Skrull-Cap's global transmission were further dampening his mood. "I've lost access to all SHIELD satellite communications. The Skrulls must've overridden them." He stated with a frustrated sigh. "How we doing?" He asked, looking over his shoulder as Maria worked feverishly with a circuit-solder on Tony's ARC reactor.
"Metal shop wasn't my strong suit." She replied, doing her best. Beside her, Tony was sweating and struggling to stay conscious. He had managed to coach her through the entire virus-repair. Now it was just a question of putting everything back together.
"Almost there… just… bypass the last wire…" He groaned, just before he lost his grip on reality and passed out. Unfortunately his instructions were vaguely incomplete and left Maria holding two wires and not knowing which one he was referring to.
"Which wire?" She asked, starting to sweat herself. "Stark?" But Tony was out cold and unresponsive. Maria realized now that her decision was a matter of life or death… Tony's life or death. "Which one… which one?!" She took a guess, jamming the wire in her right hand into the ARC reactor core.
Sparks erupted from the connection. A blue glow swelled within the device. She'd done it.
Maria wasted no time slotting the reactor back into Tony's chest, plugging everything back the way it had been until she managed to seal the focusing lens overtop. The moment she did, Tony came to with a gasp.
"That one!" He spluttered, coughing as his body was wholly rejuvenated. "Thanks." With his back to normal, Maria helped him to his feet.
"What now?" She asked.
"What now?" Tony repeated, slapping his chest plate back int place. "Now we go take out every single Skrull on this planet," he stated determinedly, slipping his Iron Man helmet back on, "right after I call a friend."
Back in Washington…
Just as Pitt'o Nili finished his address, a Skrull transport shuttle made landfall on the grounds of the Capitol. The Avengers were forced to turn and look as Mockingbird emerged from within. "You're gonna pay for this." Hawkeye angrily growled as he struggled against Z'reg's hold on him while the other Skrulls bowed in reverance. "If you've hurt Mockingbird, or any of the people you've taken-"
"What? What will you do?" Veranke retorted, mocking him. "You saw Captain America's message. We're here to help." She continued, striding up the steps to stand by Pitt'o Nili. "We'll give humanity the option; the ones who surrender to us will live, those who resist… they won't." She stated coldly. "But your people, they believe in Captain America. They trust Captain America. And Captain America will deliver this world to me." She promised. The Avengers, all of the conscious and revived, had had enough. Cybernaut most of all.
"You bunch of low-life, lying cowards." Connor snarled, struggling against Pagon's hold on him. "Screw this phony. You listen here, lady, and listen good: when I get out of this collar, I'm gonna mess you up so bad the only way anyone will recognize you is by testing your DNA!" He threatened. At once, Paibok wound up and drove his hammer into Connor's gut, knocking the wind from him.
"You dare threaten the sovereign Queen?!" He bellowed. Another blow and Connor crumpled to his knees with a groan.
"Connor!" Janet cried in alarm. Veranke snickered.
"My my, such fire. You will make a very fine example for the humans, Connor Peterson." She mused. "If any share your spark of rebellion, they will marked for immediate execution." The word rang loudly in the ears of the Avengers. Janet especially. From her imprisoned stated, she did her best to turn and glare at the Skrull Queen.
"You wanna kill him? You're gonna have to get past me first!" She stated loudly. At that Veranke laughed aloud.
"You pitiable creature. We know everything about you." She sneered. At that, Janet smirked.
"Funny… I flattened the last guy who said that." She replied… as her eyes glowed blue.
Reversing the stream of Pym Particles flowing through her veins, Janet began to grow… and grow… and grow.
Snapping free of Paibok's hand, Janet grew to her giant size and promptly kicked him away, sending him skittering across the grass. She then channeled two supersized bio-stings from her hands and bowled over half the Skrulls.
"Alright!" Hawkeye grinned.
"Atta girl, Jan!" Miss Marvel whooped.
"Cute trick!" Cybernaut complimented.
"This is that thing I was telling you about earlier, what I was working on in the lab. I'm stabilizing the Pym Particles in me so I can stay bigger for longer!" She told him, now towering five times his own height. Using the shock of the Skrulls to their advantage, Hawkeye, Miss Marvel and Cybernaut broke free of their captors.
"Hold still!" Carol urged, blasting a narrow stream of photons aimed at Connor's neck. They evaporated the collar and Connor breathed deeply as his mutation came to life again. He triggered his shields, summoned his irons and powered up his plasma casters.
"Now then…" He turned and looked Veranke dead in the eye, "I've got a face to mess up." Without waiting a second, he rushed towards Queen Veranke… only to be intercepted by Pitt'o Nili. His holo-shield flashed to life and he batted Connor aside, pouncing him shortly after. The technopath tried to hold him at bay, but the Skrull was far stronger.
"I have all the skills and powers of Captain America. I'm every bit the supersoldier he is… which makes me twice the man you are!" He sneered, attempting to crush Connor beneath his shield. Connor's own held, but only just.
"If only it weren't for that big fat weakness on your arm." The Avenger retorted, reaching out with his senses and powering down Pitt'o signature weapon. The Skrull froze in shock and Cybernaut took the opportunity to blast him in the face with both plasma casters. Pitt'o recoiled with a cry and Cybernaut bolted after him, laying into the Skrull with his pneumatic gauntlets amplifying every punch. He beat Pitt'o back and forth and was enjoying every second of it, until Veranke dropped him with a lunge kick that sent Connor tumbling back down the stairs into the arms of Hawkeye. The archer picked him up and he, Miss Marvel, and Wasp, stood back to back as the Skrulls closed in on them.
"No matter what you try, your efforts are pointless." Veranke promised. "I offered you a chance to live… but you have chosen death. Kill them!" The Super-Skrulls began to close in, surrounding for the four Avengers.
"I don't think so, Skrull!" A new voice thundered. Pitt'o and Veranke looked up in frightened shock, the Super-Skrulls and Avengers turned. The four heroes broke out in smiles.
"Steve!" Connor rejoiced.
There, just beyond them, stood the real Captain America. Flanked by the real Mockingbird, the real Viper, the real Quartermain, and the real Mark Moran.
"This is our world, and you can't have it!" Steve Rogers announced.
"And who do you think the humans will believe?" Veranke retorted. "The damage is already done, I think, because you humans believe what you see." All of a sudden, a shrieking bolt of violet energy struck from above, slamming into the midst of the Skrulls and blanketing the steps of the Capitol with a purple mist. A flash of red and gold made landfall beside Captain America.
"Let the people see you now!" Iron Man called out. "For the alien scum that you are!" His beam had managed to perform a genetic reset on the Skrulls, revealing their true green-skinned appearances. Veranke and Pitt'o looked down to see their transformed hands and realized there was no turning back.
"It does not matter, for none of you will leave here alive! You are outnumbered and out-matched." Veranke declared, determined to maintain her control over the situation. The clouds grew dark overhead, churning into a stormfront as the battle lines were drawn. The Avengers quickly closed ranks.
"Getting the whole gang back together, are we?" Hawkeye wondered.
"One of the more pleasant reunions I've been to." Cybernaut quipped. "Let's not go breaking up the band again, okay Tony?"
"Yeah yeah, we'll lick our wounds later." Iron Man responded.
"How are we gonna deal with that battleship?" Miss Marvel asked as the Skrull warship began to turn on them.
"That thing's gonna acquire a firing solution. What's the plan, Stark?" Hawkeye asked.
"A little patience, and a little help from a friend." Tony cryptically answered. From her position, Veranke activated her personal commlink.
"Commander, open fire on the humans. Leave none alive." She ordered. Her gaze remained on the human force, looking so frail compared to her warriors in her eyes. "Between my Super-Skrulls and my armada, none of you will survive." She promised grimly.
Suddenly, a lightning strike ripped through the Skrull battleship. Multiple successive strikes rolled across the hull as sheet lightning crippled the Skrull's air support. Overloaded and unable to remain afloat, the hulking cruiser began to drop from the sky, veering away from the brewing battle until it crashed into the Potomac River.
"Is that so, creature? We shall see." A commanding voice boomed from above. The Skrulls looked up… and realized they were in deep trouble. Descending to land amongst his comrades, he was adorned head to toe in armor befitting a warrior, chainlink mail keeping him protected from any harm and giving him a new dark and serious look that matched the storm clouds above.
Landing heavily on the ground, lightning crackled with his arrival, outlining the hammer he raised high. "Avengers! ASSEMBLE!" Thor roared. Lightning obeyed his command, striking at random among the Skrulls as the conjured storm heeded Thor's indomitable will.
With some muscle backing them, the chances of the humans took a turn for the better.
"The Skrulls want to turn Earth into their new home." Steve told them all. "Let's kick 'em out!"
"You heard the man," Iron Man agreed as he took flight, "Avengers! Attack!"
The heroes wasted no time responding, rushing the Skrulls as one with Thor, Iron Man and Captain America leading the charge. "FOR MIDGARD!" The Asgardian bellowed, hammering Z'Reg and Criti Noll into the air with bone-crushing swings from Mjolnir. He took flight, flinging Mjolnir ahead of him to demolish Paibok who was attempting to attack Iron Man from behind, as the armored Avenger blasted Klrr with his repulsor rays. "Ho, Iron Man! T'would seem my return to Midgard was timely!" He greeted.
"What? You mean this? This is nothing." The multi-millionaire casually replied. "But, since you're already here, you might as well stick around and help out." He added. "Good to have you back, Thor." The thunder god grinned and dove back to the ground, creating a shockwave with his hammer to bowl over Jazinda and Kl'rt as they attempted to attack Cybernaut, the technopath beating up Pagon.
"Ho, son of Peter!" Thor called out, back to back with the technopath.
"Nice to see you again, big guy." Connor called over his shoulder as he blasted Pagon with a few more plasma bolts. "Neat new set of armor, too."
"Aye, 'tis Asgardian mail. Forged by the finest smiths in all the nine realms." Thor replied, channeling a bolt of lightning that knocked Rl'nnd onto his back.
"I see you copied my color scheme." Cybernaut added, gesturing to the way Thor's black and grey motif mirrored his own grey and black bodysuit. Thor glanced down and noticed the similarities.
"Um… I assure you, friend Cybernaut, that was not my intention…" He promised, sounding embarrassed and apologetic. The technopath chuckled and elbowed his arm.
"Ah, I'm just messing with you- DUCK!" The two dove low as energy beams from Khn'nr sizzled overhead, reminding the two they were definitely still on a battlefield. "Tell you what, we'll compare outfits later, after we bash in a few more alien skulls."
"Verily." Thor agreed with a smile, taking off to do just that.
Meanwhile, Hawkeye and Miss Marvel stood back to back, blasting away at Skrulls left and right. The heroine suddenly noticed Kl'rt making a beeline for Hawkeye and flew to intercept, driving her fist into his jaw with a bone-shattering right hook coupled with a left-handed uppercut that pitched the Super-Skrull high into the air. Hawkeye turned just in time to see her save him and Carol shot him a look.
"Are we even now?" She asked.
"No." Hawkeye stated flatly, drawing and loosing an arrow that whizzed over her should to trap Criti Noll in a net before he could get the drop on Carol. The heroine turned and blasted him out of the air with her photons.
The battle sprawled out across the grounds as the humans took the fight to the Skrulls. Wasp in her giant-sized form (or perhaps 'Giant Woman' form) kicked and punched her way through the Skrull ranks, landing super-sized biostings that sent the aliens tumbling. Mockingbird and Quartermain fought back to back, the heroine using her bo staff to beat the Skrulls converging on the SHIELD agent down while Clay used his sidearm to snipe Skrulls at range.
Very similarly, Viper and Markus fought back to back as well, the Hydra operative taking great pride in killing the Skrulls one by one as Markus did likewise, using his betokinetic powers to summoned his highly-sought concrete to entomb, trap and crush the aliens with ease.
But of all these heroes, there were some who had not yet joined the fight.
Jennifer Walters cowered in the shuttle some distance away, watching the fight unfold. The lawyer still felt very out of her element, like a fish out of water, as superheroes, villains, and aliens brawled in an all-out war. "I can't go out there…" she murmured to herself, "I-I'll be killed! There's no way… I'm not a hero."
"Oh get over yourself." Henry Gyrich snapped from behind. "You can turn into a Hulk! And you're scared about getting killed."
"Look, just… just shut up." Jennifer grumbled.
"You're stronger than all of them combined. You'd make them all look like pre-schoolers. What a lousy waste of potential." Gyrich continued.
"I said shut up, you overpaid pencil-pusher." Jennifer huffed. "I'm not trained, I'm not qualified. I'm a lawyer! Not a superhero. End of story."
"So you're just gonna stand by and watch them all be killed, huh? And what will you do when they come for us?" Gyrich pressed.
"Probably do what you do and hide under a rock." Jennifer retorted bitterly. "Look, just leave me alone."
"You should be out there with them. Instead you're being a coward."
"I am not a coward!" Jennifer cried. Gyrich was beginning to remind her of her abusive father… a man she hated.
"Says the little girl curled up in the safety of this ship." Gyrich retorted, puffing out his chest. "If I were in charge of SHIELD, I'd have your court-martialled for desertion."
"Desertion?!" Jennifer exclaimed.
"You're leaving your fellow humans to die when you should be helping them!" Gyrich explained.
"Why do you care so much?! What are you doing to help them?!"
"I'm not the problem here! You are! You cowardly, weakling, useless lawyer!" Gyruch snapped, levelling an accusatory finger at her.
That did it.
"I AM NOT USELESS!" Jennifer screamed, her eyes glowing green as her rage consumed her. Her body transformed, skin turning green as Jennifer bulked out, her muscles growing to sizeable proportions as she gained over an extra foot in height. Hulking out into her mighty strongwoman form, Jen barged out of the shuttle with a livid look in her eyes as her anger ran hot. "Come here, Skrulls! I need to vent!" She bellowed, charging into the battle.
The alien invaders were completely unprepared for her appearance, Criti Noll and Kl'rt bearing the brunt of her rampage as Jennifer effectively buried their heads in the dirt. The heroes turned their heads and were astonished by her presence.
"Woah! Is that… Hulk?" Cybernaut wondered, confused.
"Nay! 'Tis some sort of… feminine version?" Thor stated, equally confused.
"A She-Hulk?!" Janet realized. "When did we get a She-Hulk?" She asked. No one could answer her. That said, everyone appreciated the extra help.
Away from the fighting, Captain America was embroiled in a battle all his own. Jumped by Pitt'o Nili, the two tumbled down the steps of the Capitol until Steve threw him to the ground. "You! You lied to the Avengers, to the whole world, all using my face!" He roared.
"I didn't do anything!" Pitt'o sneered, catching his fist. "You did!" Rearing his feet back, he kicked Cap in the chest and threw him off.
From her perch, Veranke watched the brawl unfolding, ther humans tireless in their battle against the Skrulls. She refused to allow any form of failure and outright refused to let her kind be bested by an inferior race. She withdrew her communicator.
"Agent X'iv, Washington has been compromised. Your queen is at risk." She radioed. "Activate the failsafe, that should teach these primates a lesson." Her orders seemed to fall on empty static, Veranke waited but her patience waned quickly when X'iv did not respond immediately. "Agent X'iv, respond." She demanded. Silence ensued.
"X'iv!" Veranke's cries could be heard and the Lyle Getz Skrull would have responded… were the air not being squeezed from his neck.
A cloaked individual stood in the secret AIM base, a hand around the Skrull's neck as he hoisted X'iv off the floor. He was clad in a silver-blue armor that concealed any trace of who he was underneath. In fact, all X'iv could see were his gauntlets and boots. With the Skrull in one hand, he lifted his communicator in the other.
"Your agent is unavailable." He growled in a synthesized voice. It took a moment for Veranke to respond.
"Who is this…?" She breathed.
"This is not your planet to rule." Was all he said before crushing the comm in his hand. Then he snapped X'iv's neck with a vicious squeeze and discarded the body like a piece of trash. The cloaked figure strode over to the central console and laid his hand against it. At once, data and programming flashed across the monitors, erasing the corruptive command strains AIM. Had implanted into Earth's satellites. One by one, they were reverted to normal… and one by one, Veranke lost control.
With a growing horror as static rippled across her commlink, Veranke began to realize that things had taken a turn for the worse. Her invasion was failing. Years of preparation wasted. Efforts gone nowhere.
Down below, Captain America tackled Pitt'o Nili to the ground again, brawling with the Skrull as the alien used his holo-shield to his advantage. Smashing into Cap's jaw to stagger him, Pitt'o flung the huma across the grounds and into a bannister. He stalked over with murderous intent. "You can't possibly think you can beat me. We're the same." He growled, lashing out with his shield. Cap rolled his head just in time for a concrete-shattering blow to narrowly miss him. "I have your strength, your skill, I know every thought you have!" Another blow, another miss. Winding up, he struck Cap in the guts, forcing the human to double over to the ground. But even then, Captain America refused to give in.
"There's more to humans than our bodies and minds." He retorted. "Something you'll never understand," snatching a piece of debris from the ground, Cap rolled as Pitt'o drove his shield down and into the ground, "our spirit!" Swinging his hand around, Steve shattered the holo-shield projector, pieces of metal tumbling away from the Skrull's arm. Pitt'o gasped in shock, realizing he was down a weapon. "We never give up!" Captain America cried, lashing out with a kick that caught him on the side of the knee. Pitt'o staggered. Steve rose. "We never surrender!" Two quick haymakers sent spittle flying the from the Skrull's lips. "EVER!" An uppercut knocked Pitt'o flat on his back, and Cap pounced on him. The Skrull only managed a wide-eyed look before Steve began pummeling his face with blow after blow, venting months of stress and instances of rage of passionate fervor, green blood quickly staining the ground and the knuckles of Steve's gloves as he beat his imposter to a pulp.
The heroes mopped up the Skrulls in short order. Miss Marvel knocked Z'Reg unconscious. Paibok fell into a coma as Hawkeye landed three electric arrows. Iron Man toppled Criti Noll for good with a unibeam blast. Wasp zapped Pagon into submission. Cybernaut laid out Khn'nr with twin plasma blasts and a staff to the head. She-Hulk beat Klrr into the ground until only his arms stuck out of the dirt. Jazinda fell dead as Markus crushed her skull between two concrete-covered fists. Kl'rt collapsed in an unconscious heap as Thor knocked him out with a heavy thunderbolt. Rl'nnd's neck snapped as Viper trapped his head between her legs and gave a vicious twist.
And all the while, Captain America beat the living snot out of Pitt'o Nili.
At last, bruised, broken, and a bloodied mess, his face barely recognizable beneath a mass of swollen bruises and split skin, the battered Skrull looked up as Captain America raised his fists high over his head and brought them down hard in a double-axehandle, crushing Pitt'o's nose and knocking him out for good to the tune of a monstrous thunderclap.
Only Veranke was left.
Everyone started moving, chasing the Skrull Queen and cornering her on the far corner of the Capitol. She was backed into a corner, alone against a mob of humans who had decimated her forces. "No… no…" she gasped, drawing a pistol to defend herself. She was hopelessly outnumbered. Hawkeye, Miss Marvel, Captain America, She-Hulk, Mockingbird, Cybernaut, Wasp, Clay Quartermain, Markus and Viper advanced on the ground as Thor and Iron Man hovered above her. Everyone had their weapons ready.
"Surrender." Iron Man ordered.
"I-I don't understand, it was written!" Veranke cried. "The prophecies foretold it, they said Earth would be ours! How can this be?" At once, her weapon was plucked from her hands and flew across the space courtesy of Cybernaut's magnets, where it was then crushed into a tiny little ball.
"Write that." The technopath remarked. Veranke was alone and weaponless now. Her situation had turned dire.
All of a sudden, her feet were encased as the very floor came alive and ensnared her. Suddenly all the heroes found themselves snared, the concrete ground coming to life and snaring their arms and legs to hold them in place. Only Viper remained free.
Markus Moran stepped forward, one hand raised. "What're you doing, Mark?" Connor demanded as he writhed in vain against the powerful concrete hold on him.
"Making sure you all stay out of my way… while I do what needs to be done." He answered, advancing towards Veranke. He flexed his other hand, portions of the ground rising up to take the shape of walls on either side of her.
"W-What are you doing?" She begged. "You wouldn't dare kill me!"
"I've been a prisoner of your kind for the past three months." Mark retorted with a growl. "Ask me what else 'wouldn't dare' to do." Viper watched with a growing smile, licking her lips as Markus flexed incredible power.
"I know you humans. You would rather keep your enemies alive and imprisoned than do something so unpleasant to them!" Veranke cried, trying to manipulate her way to safety. Mark seemed to pause, watching her for a moment as the others struggled to free themselves.
"Heroes might. But I'm not a hero." He replied, savouring the subtle look in Veranke's eyes. "And I'm alright with doing unpleasant things." Veranke's eyes shot wide open and watched as Mark curled his fingers into a fist.
"No, no! NOOOOOO-!" Her screams were abruptly cut off as the concrete walls snapped shut with a heavy thud and a wet skritch.
All of a sudden, Iron Man burst free of his bonds, using an altered harmonic resonance from his unibeam to shatter the concrete holding him. He turned and blasted the same frequency full-bore, shattering the bonds holding his allies down… as well as knock Viper out in the process. Seeing the sudden change, Markus dove, the concrete floor rippling beneath his body as it engulfed him entirely. He vanished without a trace as the heroes came to their senses.
"Secure Viper!" Clay shouted and Mockingbird moved with him.
"Where did he go?" Miss Marvel wondered, staring at the spot where Mark had been. It was as if nothing had changed at all.
"I don't know… but he's one more villain on the loose." Cybernaut decided, glancing back and forth between the spot and the floor and Veranke's tomb… faint streams of green blood bubbling between the two halves of concrete.
Later that day…
As the day drew to a close, the Avengers gathered with Nick Fury in Avengers Mansion to debrief the conclusion of the Skrull's attempted invasion. "SHIELD bases were hit hard worldwide by sleeper agents. We've got reinforcements coming in to secure the world's capitols." Fury described. "The Skrull prisoners Cap brought back to Earth have been secured at a temporary SHIELD compound, working to get back to normal. Jennifer Walters is currently undergoing existensive testing… looks like we might have another Hulk on our hands. King Cobra, Lyle Getz and Viper have all been detained, but there's no sign of Mark Moran anywhere."
"The Baxter Building was sucked into another dimension, but Invisible Woman was able to get in and help the Fantastic Four reverse it." Iron Man reported.
"Brand was able to evacuate all the SWORD personnel before the Skrulls took down Damocles base. They're prepping a temporary base now to start the search for any Skrulls left on Earth." Miss Marvel told them all.
"I passed my detection tech to their man Syren. They're mass producing it now. The Skrulls won't be able to hide." Tony added.
"Aw man, not Damocles! All my hard work down the drain." Cybernaut bemoaned.
"What of these Super-Skrulls? Their power is great." Thor queried.
"Agreed. We're holding them in a special section of Forty-Two until we can figure out what to do with them." Iron Man explained. That seemed pretty well summed-up for the group and the rest of the heroes relaxed… all of them, save Captain America.
"So, bottom line? We just saved the world from an alien invasion." Miss Marvel determined with a happy smile. "We won."
"Just your average Tuesday for the Avengers." Cybernaut determined, who was nursing a few cracked ribs.
"We really need to celebrate. Especially now that we've got the team back together." Wasp decided, her left arm in a sling.
"After today, I could use a drink." Hawkeye agreed. As they conversed, Cap took his leave, walking solemnly and silently out of the room.
"Cap?" Miss Marvel called after him. But Steve did not heed her. The weight of his reality suddenly settled in over them all.
"Yeah, we won. But not without paying a price." Fury mused. Of them all, Cap had certainly suffered the worst, with his name and reputation horrifically defaced thanks to Pitt'o Nili.
"The Skrulls turned you against each other. Broken bones, destroyed buildings, these things are easily repaired." Thor declared.
"But broken friendships, broken trust… wounds such as these take much longer to heal."