"You know, you really should be kinder to your neighbors. You never know when you're gonna need to borrow some sugar."

  Fury immediately drew his gun, pointing it at the alien, while Carol's fists began to glow with energy. The alien, presumably Talos, on the other hand, seemed in no hurry and simply raised his hands in mock submission.

  "Now, hang on a second," he said. "Before you go swinging those jazz hands around and making a mess of your friend's house…" He motioned toward the window, directing their attention outside.

  "Oh my God!" Maria gasped.

  Outside, they saw another Maria together with Monica, playing together, and the little girl clearly had no idea she was with an imposter.

  "No one's gonna hurt the girl," Talos assured them, raising his hands higher. "Just… don't kill me, alright? That would really complicate things."

  Unbeknownst to Maria, Talos, the imposter Maria, and Monica outside, there was also a third person near the girl and the alien—someone only Fury and Danvers saw when Talos pointed in their direction.

  At that moment, Fury and Danvers had also heard Maverick's voice inside their heads: "You don't need to worry about little Monica. If he so much as tries anything funny with the girl, I'll turn him into a pig." The reassurance made them both let out a quiet sigh of relief.

  Back to confronting Talos, Fury leveled his gun and said with cool confidence, "I'm about five seconds away from decorating that wall with some ugly-ass Skrull brains."

  "I'm really sorry I impersonated your boss, Agent Fury. I had no other options," Talos said with surprising sincerity, meeting his eyes. "But now I stand before you as my true self—without deception."

  "And who is that out there?" Carol demanded. Her tone, too, didn't betray nervousness—knowing Maverick was outside.

  From their brief half-hour chat, she had learned a great deal about this young man. First, he was someone with decision-making authority on this planet. Second, according to Fury, he was ridiculously strong. If it weren't for her current situation, she might have even wanted to have a go at him—to test his abilities against hers. Fortunately for her, she didn't.

  "Okay, that's a fair point," Talos admitted, "but I'm sure you understand I had to take some precautions. After all, I saw you crush twenty of my best men with your hands bound. I just want to talk."

  Danvers scoffed. "Last time we talked, I ended up hanging by my ankles."

  "That was before I knew who you were," Talos explained. "Before I knew what made you different from the others."

  "Is Monica safe out there?" Maria interjected anxiously, staring at the window, worried more about her daughter than the alien inside her house.

  "She's fine," Carol replied with unexpected confidence, which made Maria suspicious and Talos... confused.

  "Hmm… didn't think you'd take my word so easily, Danvers," the alien said incredulously.

  "Worry about yourself," Carol stated, looking barely a hairsbreadth away from blasting a photon beam at him.

  Talos became even more confused and wondered for a second whether this was the real Danvers or one of his kind in disguise, but then brushed the thought aside just as quickly. How could he, the leader, mistake his own kind?

  "You seem awfully confident," he asked again, cautiously. Maria also had the same thought, but given the situation, she chose to trust her close friend.

  "We have our reasons, asshole," Fury cut in. "Now talk. What do you want?"

  Though still puzzled, Talos decided to stop trying to figure it out; more important things awaited him. Then, slowly, with one hand still raised, he reached into his jacket with the other.

  "I have an audio recording from Pegasus, from your plane crash six years ago, on a device I believe you call a... black box."

  "What? They told me it was destroyed in the crash," Maria interjected suddenly. "How'd you get it?"

  "Young lady, I'm not sure you've been told everything, but we... I have a very special skill that allows me to get into places I'm not supposed to be…"

  He expected a retort, but none of them reacted to his snarky remark. Sighing, he continued.

  "Okay, anyway, if you'll listen to this recording, I assure you it'll be worth your while."

  "First, call your buddy back inside, and only then will I listen," Carol demanded, her expression leaving no room for argument.

  "Deal," Talos also had no intention of trying any tricks, and agreed just like that.

  And it was at that moment that they all heard a meow echo through the tension-filled room. Goose, the cat, suddenly wandered in, purring softly, and subsequently, Talos, as if he had just seen a dead alien ghost, jumped in horror at the sight.

  "Oh my God! Get that thing away!" he cried, pressing himself against the wall.

  "Goose… where have you been?" Fury asked, a smile tugging at his lips as he saw his new buddy.

  "Are you… scared of a cat?" Carol asked, bemused by the alien's reaction as she looked between Goose in Fury's hands and Talos, who really seemed to be scared out of his mind.

  "That… is not a cat!" Talos insisted, pointing a trembling finger. "That's a Flerken! An extremely, extremely dangerous inter-dimensional, tentacle-monster!"

  "Tentacle monster?" Fury chuckled as he scooped up Goose. "Why do you all keep insisting Goose is dangerous? You wouldn't hurt a fly, would you, Goosy?"

  Talos raised a puzzled brow. "If not me, then listen to the other one, Agent… Also, can you tell me who it is? Is he one of us?"

  "Its name is Twinklefeather. And I don't know whether it's an alien or not… but you don't need to worry about that, right, Goose?" Fury said, cuddling the ginger cat even more lovingly, which only made Talos more agitated.

  Are Earthlings always this brave? Talos thought, beads of sweat forming on his forehead.

  And just then, the door opened, and Monica stepped inside with the fake Maria behind her. Maverick also entered and walked over to Isabella, remaining to watch how things played out.

  As soon as little Monica saw another person who looked like her mom, confusion washed over her face. "Mom?" she murmured, looking back and forth, and instinctively backed up toward Danvers, who at that moment seemed like the safest choice in her mind.

  "Right, Norex… you can change back," Talos instructed his minion.

  The alien reverted to its natural green form, causing Monica's eyes to widen in astonishment rather than fear. "So cool! Mom, is this your friend?"

  ---

  Soon, everyone followed Maria to her office, where she had an old desktop computer ready to play the black box recording.

  "It's important that... especially you, Carol Danvers, hear the full length of this recording," Talos said solemnly while the device began to load… very, very slowly.

  Time seemed to stretch as they waited.

  "What's happening?" Carol whispered, her eyes fixed on the screen. For someone who had come across and used advanced alien tech, this scenario seemed odd.

  "It's loading," Fury explained, which made Maverick chuckle quietly from further back. Such slow loading speeds would have frustrated him too, much less Carol.

  Finally, the computer beeped, signaling readiness, and Talos reached out and clicked 'Play.'

  Silence filled the room before the speaker came to life. Static hissed, alarms blared, and engines roared. Then the voices came, sounding urgent and panicked. Danvers and Maria recognized Lawson immediately, calling out orders and warnings.

  Carol's younger voice followed, confused, and then came a voice she hadn't expected: Yon-Rogg, her supervisor for the past six years. Her eyes widened as she realized what it meant, and, more importantly, everything finally started to make sense.

  The recording told the story clearly. Dr. Lawson, revealed to be Mar-Vell, a renegade Kree scientist, tried to escape with her light-speed engine. The Kree pursued her, Yon-Rogg leading them, until her plane crash brought it all to an end.

  The sounds of twisted metal, engines, and explosions filled the room. Mar-Vell's final stand came through in her desperate words, revealing that she was not like a typical Kree. In fact, she was a traitor to them and more of an ally, acting only to prevent more bloodshed.

  Then came the explosion. Carol's own voice surged as she destroyed the engine core herself. Instead of handing it over, she chose to destroy it—and herself—in the process.

  Silence returned. Those listening could only imagine the wreckage, the chaos, and the scale of it all. And just as it seemed the recording had ended, Yon-Rogg's voice returned from the speakers, outlining his next move with his soldiers: taking Danvers back to Hala, the Kree homeworld.

  Obviously, Danvers' attempt to destroy herself along with the engine failed. Well, not exactly—according to the recording, the engine was indeed destroyed, but its power was absorbed by her body, explaining the source of her superpowers as well.

  Finally, the truth was clear to Carol Danvers. The missing years, her time in the Kree army—it all made sense. The recording revealed everything, and with it, her lost memories returned as well.

  —————————

  The recording clicked off, plunging the room into heavy silence. Carol sat frozen, tears silently tracing paths down her cheeks as the dam of suppressed memories finally broke, and she made a run for it out of the house.

  "He lied to me," Carol yelled, with her friend Maria, followed by Fury and Talos, trailing behind.

  "Everything that I knew was a lie."

  Maverick and Isabella stood quietly near the house, watching the drama unfold, and although Maverick had known this moment was coming, witnessing the raw emotion on Carol's face as her entire worldview collapsed was something else entirely.

  "I feel really bad for her, Ricky. Can't you do something to cheer her up?" Isabella whispered softly, resting her head on his shoulder.

  "No. She needs to face this herself. But later, once all this is over, I don't mind giving her a few calming drafts… well, depending if she really needs them by then..."

  Back to Danvers, "Now," Talos said, approaching slowly, his usual sarcastic edge gone, replaced by something resembling genuine sympathy. "Now you understand, right?"

  "Understand what?" Carol's voice cracked. "What do I understand now?"

  "Yon-Rogg killed Mar-Vell," Talos explained patiently. "He killed her because she realized she was fighting on the wrong side of an unjust war. He killed her to protect the Kree Empire's secrets and to acquire her light-speed engine."

  "No," Carol shook her head defiantly. "Your people are terrorists. They kill innocents. I saw the ruins on Torfa."

  "Ruins that the Accusers are responsible for," Talos countered. "My people lived as refugees on Torfa. Homeless ever since we resisted Kree rule and they destroyed our planet. And the handful of us that are left will be slaughtered next... unless you help me finish what Mar-Vell started."

  Maverick, listening not far away, raised a brow to that. The MCU did indeed portray the Skrulls as survivors, always on the run, but that "innocent refugee" narrative didn't quite match what he remembered of the Skrulls' often morally ambiguous history across the entire Marvel multiverse.

  Skrulls in the Marvel comics weren't as innocent as Talos was portraying them... even in this timeline. While Talos's current situation deserved sympathy, Maverick understood that they were conquerors themselves, much like the Kree, expanding their rule across planets by any means necessary.

  Not to mention, he remembered seeing many YouTube videos and fan theories suggesting that Skrulls had long infiltrated Earth. Perhaps they were only fan theories, perhaps not, but he wasn't foolish enough to believe Talos's words just because his arguments were convincing.

  But for now, he chose to keep all that inside his head, and maybe after all this was over, he wouldn't mind having a one-on-one with the shapeshifter leader.

  "And Dr. Lawson's light-speed engine helps you do that how exactly?" Carol asked, glaring at Talos with burning eyes.

  "Simple. It allows us to travel far beyond the Kree's reach," Talos explained patiently. "To find a new, uninhabited world where we can finally be safe."

  "Ask him what happens if he doesn't find an empty planet?" Maverick's voice rang inside Fury and Danvers' heads, making them turn momentarily in his direction, but they quickly turned back.

  "Right," Fury said, scrutinizing the alien from head to toe. "What if you eventually find one… and it happens to be already occupied? Like, say… this planet? Convenient location, nice atmosphere, plenty of resources. Tempting to just… settle in?"

  Perhaps more than Maverick, Fury wanted an answer to that more than anything. After all, he was Nick Fury. In the future, in the original MCU timeline and even in many other timelines, he had done some—no, a lot of—questionable things at the helm of S.H.I.E.L.D. for the sake of the world, things that any normal person would easily label him an outright monster.

  But if one disregards the gray area and only focuses on black and white, there would be no doubt the man really wanted what was best for the world.

  Talos met Fury's fiery, skeptical gaze and couldn't help but feel a thrum in his chest. He had a feeling that his next words had to be sincere, and sincere 100 percent.

  "I give you my word, Agent. Commander Talos's word," he said more solemnly than ever. "My people will not seek to conquer C-53. Besides, even if we wanted to, even if we had the manpower, we can't—lest we anger the wrath of the All-Father. Not even the Kree Empire would dare invade here for conquest."

  Fury, who thought he would receive a simple answer, was bewildered by the sudden name drop. He had no clue about it and could only turn to the one person who might know.

  "Another day, Agent Fury." He saw the kid let out a sigh and nod at him before the voice ran through his mind again: "No promises, but I don't mind showing you some... of the extraordinary sides of the world later. For now, focus on Talos."

  "We seek only refuge," Talos continued, "and even if other Skrull factions cause trouble here, I will aid you against them. Is that a sufficient guarantee, Agent?"

  Fury turned back to him, and though he had a thousand questions wracking his brain, he knew it was not the time.

  "We'll see," he said, neither acknowledging nor denying his promise.

  Talos sighed, then turned back to Danvers. "Right now, the Kree are the enemy we both share. They're coming for me, for my people," he said. "Help us find the lab, get Mar-Vell's engine core, and we leave. By doing so, we also take the Kree threat with us. It's mutually beneficial."

  Carol still looked lost, with her newfound memories settling in, and was unable to think straight, so she turned to Fury and Maria for help.

  Maria came closer, held her hands and squeezed them tightly with care. "Carol, remember, Lawson always told us that his light-speed engine was not to fight wars but to end them. Finding a way out."

  "Exactly!" Talos chimed in on her words. "Finding the core lets us escape the war for good!"

  "Have you forgotten... I destroyed the core," Carol reminded them.

  "No," Talos corrected, "you destroyed the engine. The core that powered it is in a remote location. If you help us decode those coordinates, we can find it."

  "What if you find it and use it as a weapon against us?" Carol challenged him again.

  Sighing, Talos replied tiredly, "We just want a home."

  After a moment of tense silence, he added softly, "I know I don't deserve your trust, but you were our only lead. We discovered that your energy signature matched Mar-Vell's core. Now we know why."

  "If only you knew the importance of it to me," the Skrull said, the face of another, someone dear, surfacing in his mind. "I just need your help decoding the coordinates to Mar-Vell's lab."

  Back and forth, the alien and Danvers argued some more, neither backing down, and finally, with Fury and Maria supporting the decision, Danvers chose to agree to help the Skrulls.

  With the new determination on her face, she said, "Actually, those weren't coordinates. They're state vectors for orbital position and velocity. You didn't find her lab on Earth because it's not on Earth." She smirked, then added, "That was the location on the date of the crash six years ago. If we track its course, we can find it in orbit even right now."

  "Basic physics," Maria chimed in as well, with a small, proud smile.

  "In... orbit?" Talos asked, looking stunned, then turned to Morex, who looked like he had just heard a bad joke. "Was that so difficult to figure out? I mean, you're my science guy, right?"

  "I..."

  "Yon-Rogg is also coming. He should reach here soon," Carol interjected, suddenly remembering the detail, and urgency filled her voice. "We've got to get to the core before he does."

  "Then we shouldn't waste any time," Talos said, equally taken aback.

  "Now hold on a second. Are we really talking about going to space?" Fury suddenly asked, looking utterly incredulous. "In what? The government-issue sedan we borrowed?"

  "I can help with that..."

  Everyone turned their heads to Morex, who, with all the attention, couldn't help but look down and then continue.

  "I can... do a few tweaks to your vessel... handle the modifications."

  "Are you sure... Mr. Science Guy?" Fury muttered skeptically under his breath, narrowing his eyes.

  ---

  Time passed, and another day went by while the science guy worked on the aircraft, transforming it for space travel. Meanwhile, Carol somehow convinced Maria to join the mission as well, but as a result, Monica had to be taken to another place while they were gone.

  The kid was upset, but alas, she was a kid. Before she was driven away, though, she helped Danvers with a new look, and Danvers for the first time picked the color she would wear in the future as Captain Marvel.

  Maverick and Isabella also did not linger at their home all the time and left, popping around the world doing who knows what, with the heads-up to Fury and Danvers that they would return when the aircraft was ready.

  Then, finally, on the morning of the next day, two nights after they first arrived at the property, everything was ready. The group—Fury, Danvers, and Monica—gathered beside the newly modified spacecraft.

  Fury and Danvers approached Maverick and Isabella, who were hanging back a little, but didn't appear ready to board, and gave them a questioning look.

  "Are you coming with us?" Danvers asked.

  "Ah, don't worry about us, Ms. Danvers. We wouldn't miss it for the world," Maverick replied instantly, a wide smile spreading across his face. "Just know that we'll be right behind you."

  "You… aren't going to call back Twinklefeather, are you?"

  At that, Isabella, standing beside Maverick, couldn't help but chuckle out loud.

  —————————

  The modified aircraft hummed with energy as Danvers entered the last instruction into the system. Beside her sat Maria, and just behind them was Fury, carrying Goose in his arms, while Talos sat agitatedly in his seat.

  "You know you really shouldn't be carrying that thing in your lap…" Talos said uneasily, fear visible in his eyes.

  "As long as it keeps scaring the green out of your face, I'll keep doing exactly that," Fury retorted, snuggling the ginger cat with even more affection.

  "Alright, buckle up." Danvers turned from the cockpit, drawing their attention. Looking at their bickering—one man and one alien—she had a feeling they would become good friends eventually, despite being from different species.

  "Initiating launch sequence…"

  "Space, huh… never thought I'd spend the New Year's holidays doing something this insane..." Fury muttered nervously, clutching the ginger cat tighter.

  He was a soldier who had been through plenty of dangerous situations, but this was a whole different level of crazy—even for him, leaving Earth's atmosphere to track down, and likely fight off aliens. Goose, however, merely purred, the least bothered of anyone aboard.

  "And… takeoff!"

  With Danvers's last announcement, a hum of power filled the cabin—Vrrrrmmm—as if the ship itself were stretching awake. Then—

  BOOM!

  A thunderous blast shook the inside and outside of the aircraft. The twin turbines roared to life, thrusting the craft forward, and, slowly at first, it began to lift off the ground.

  From outside, Maverick and Isabella watched as the craft shot straight up moments later, defying gravity without even moving forward. The rush of wind brushed against their robes, and before long, it pierced the clouds and vanished, leaving only the endless sky ahead.

  "Are we not following them?" Isabella asked some time later, turning from the small dot in the sky to her fiancé, who seemed lost in thought.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  "We will…" Maverick murmured without looking, his focus fixed on something else—specifically the figure near the cabin beside Maria's house.

  There, Morex—disguised as Danvers—stood waiting, as if anticipating someone's arrival. Maverick, too, was waiting, certain of what was about to happen: Yon-Rogg would soon land with his crew, coming for Danvers.

  In the movie, Yon-Rogg had killed this pitiful Skrull as soon as he realized it wasn't Danvers, and Maverick simply wanted to change that—partly because he liked the alien, and partly because he wanted Talos to owe him a favor.

  They waited—half an hour, then nearly an hour—and sure enough, Maverick's magical sense finally detected something large, like an aircraft—or, in this case, a space pod—invisible and landing not far from the property.

  Yon-Rogg soon emerged out from his spacepod hidden under cloaking technology and walked towards the cabin with a smile on his face, seeing Danvers outside there.

  What followed next was pretty similar to what happened in the movie. The Kree commander didn't take long to realize it wasn't Danvers but a Skrull in disguise.

  Boom!

  "Where is she? What did you do with her?"

  Despite the gun pointed at his face and having already been shot in the shoulder, the Skrull science guy didn't budge a word and looked defiantly at Yon-Rogg, who was threatening him to reveal the whereabouts of Danvers.

  "She already knows, doesn't she?" he asked again, realizing that Danvers may very well be compromised by now.

  Then, he gave one more glance at the brave, yet pitiful Skrull on the ground, and without even a hint of sympathy, pulled the trigger at his face.

  Boom!

  The Skrulls were he and his race's mortal enemies, so killing it was just adding another to his already countless tally. He didn't give it a second thought, then fumbled with the communicator in his hand and informed Ronan, a high-ranking member of the Kree Empire he served, to come to Earth, fearing the planet had been compromised.

  All this was witnessed by Maverick and Isabella, who remained outside. When Yon-Rogg finally left and his spacepod took off, Maverick and Isabella canceled their invisibility and walked inside.

  Inside, Morex—whom Yon-Rogg had just shot, or at least thought he had—was lying on the ground, very much alive and looking bewildered by what had just happened. At the same time, his eyes bulged; ever since that first shot to his shoulder, he had felt as if someone had their hands over his mouth, preventing him from speaking.

  Yes, he wasn't dead, and just beside his head, there was an impact on the wooden cabin where Yon-Rogg's energy gun had fired and hit, clearly not Morex as the Kree had thought.

  Mr. Science Guy raised his head, hearing the sounds of footsteps, and saw two Earthlings enter, walking lazily, the female with her hand tugged around the male's arm.

  "You're welcome, by the way. I'm a friend of Danvers." He heard the male human speak some inexplicable words, then tsked pitifully before adding, "That's a nasty wound on your shoulder... are you gonna be alright with that? Do you have a way to treat yourself?"

  Morex, despite feeling intense pain and having countless questions, nodded, bobbing his head like a chicken. Besides, he still couldn't speak, as if something had been shoved into his mouth.

  "Good." He heard the male human nod and say, then snap his fingers. Subsequently, he felt the restraints covering his face and his body loosen. But just as he was about to question who they were, he saw orange sparks materialize behind the two humans and form into a large circle, making him stuck on his words. Then, while he was still wordstruck, they simply walked inside, and the orange circle—which was very likely a portal—disappeared altogether.

  ---

  Meanwhile, some time earlier, as the quinjet ascended toward the edge of Earth's atmosphere, the blue sky gradually deepened to indigo, then to inky black. Stars emerged, impossibly bright without the haze of air to dim them, and Fury's breath caught in his throat.

  Despite all he had seen and endured—as a soldier, facing aliens, mutants, discovering the existence of witches and wizards among them, and not to mention the strange supernatural horrors stored in the SHIELD database—the scene before him still left him baffled: the vast emptiness of space, the glittering pinpricks of distant suns, and the curve of Earth below, a flawless blue marble suspended against the void.

  "Hell… ain't that something," he muttered, leaning his face closer to the window.

  "First time in space?" Maria glanced back at him with a smug smile.

  "This not your first time as well?" he countered.

  She shrugged. "I've skimmed the edge in a jet. Close enough to taste it."

  "So?"

  Clearly, the argument wasn't going anywhere. She then turned fully in her seat to face Talos and fixed him with a sharp look. "Mr. Alien… can I ask you something?"

  "Ask away," Talos replied warily.

  "This shapeshifting… can you just turn into anything you want?"

  "Ah, the eternal question," Talos sighed. "Well, I have to see it first. Get a good visual imprint."

  "Can all you Skrulls do it?"

  "Physiologically? Yes," Talos confirmed. "But doing it well… now that takes practice," he cleared his throat and puffed out his alien chest a bit. "And, dare I say, a certain degree of natural talent."

  "Can you turn into a bird with wingspans of hundreds of meters?" Fury asked, an impish gleam in his eye.

  "What's a bird? And are you suggesting there are creatures that large on this primitive planet?" Talos responded with genuine confusion.

  "Fine… what about a cat?" he tossed back. "I'll give you fifty bucks right now if you can turn into a ginger cat…"

  Talos sighed deeply, thinking Earthlings had some weird fetishes.

  "Switching engines from scramjet to fusion," Carol announced from the front, cutting off the banter. "Buckle up, folks. Might get a bit bumpy."

  The craft lurched forward with sudden acceleration, pressing them all deeper into their seats and flipping their stomachs as they finally broke free of Earth's gravitational pull entirely.

  "Hey," Fury stammered, gripping his seat. "Is this normal… like, space turbulence?"

  "Pretty much," Danvers replied, smirking without turning around.

  The engines roared for minutes, pushing them through a nauseating surge of speed, then slowly cut back before going completely silent. There was still nothing visible in front of them—only endless stars sparkling against the darkness. It was both a breathtaking and utterly terrifying, unyielding vastness.

  "Locking in on coordinate grid," Danvers scanned the emptiness ahead. "It's gotta be here."

  "Is it in front of all that nothing?" Fury asked sarcastically.

  Paying no mind to his jab, Danvers focused on the Kree technology on her wrist device, fumbling with it as she worked. Before long, the emptiness ahead began to shimmer. A massive structure materialized—a huge spaceship suspended silently against the starfield, and she recognized it immediately.

  "Is that…" Fury mumbled, jaw dropped halfway.

  "Mar-Vell's laboratory," Danvers said. "It's actually a Kree Imperial cruiser, likely the one she arrived on Earth in."

  "Right then… everyone hold tight. I'm preparing for docking sequence."

  Just as they thrust the craft forward, some distance behind them, an orange circle materialized out of nowhere, and out came Maverick and Isabella, enveloped in a magical construct like a dome surrounding them.

  "Looks like we're just in time…"

  "It's much bigger than that little spaceship you have heading to Mars, Ricky," Isabella said, eyes sparkling. She wasn't fazed by being in space—after all, this wasn't her first time—but the sheer size of the Kree Imperial cruiser left her breathless. It was, for lack of a better word, majestic.

  "Let's go…"

  "How long are we going to stay invisible before revealing ourselves?" Isabella asked, as the magical construct moved, following the Quinjet.

  Maverick hummed thoughtfully at the question. "I'm waiting for something… but soon," he said ambiguously. He wanted to wait until Danvers fully unlocked her potential, broke free from the Kree control chip, and until then, he didn't want to interfere in the course of events. Though his butterfly wings had already made some changes, the general direction was still on course. More importantly, his target was now within reach, and at the thought, he couldn't help but tug a grin across his face.

  "What's with that stupid smirk?" Isabella raised a brow. Her fiancée was doing that again.

  Cough. "Let's keep following…"

  ---

  Inside Mar-Vell's Lab

  After docking their modified Quinjet, the group cautiously ventured into the space station. The corridors merged Kree efficiency with unexpectedly human touches—posters, personal items hinting at Mar-Vell's undercover life, and even children's belongings, whose presence none of them could yet explain.

  Eventually, the three humans and one cat reached what appeared to be the main research chamber. And there it was—the object of their quest, glowing with an ethereal blue light: the Tesseract, resting securely at the center of the room, held in place by two mechanical arms extending from either side.

  While the others were distracted by the surroundings, Maverick—still invisible and a little behind the group—also saw it for the first time and felt inexplicably drawn to the cube. He couldn't tell whether it was his own desire or something else, but the moment his eyes landed on it, an overwhelming urge to grab it surged through him.

  Can't blame him—after all, it held the Space Stone, one of the six Infinity Stones. Yet he still held back, drawing on his magical energy and Occlumency shields to barely restrain the pounding temptation, waiting for the course of events in his mind to finish unfolding.

  —————————

  Time passed, and it soon became clear to Fury and his group why children's toys were scattered throughout the aircraft. Not long after reaching the chamber, Talos began signaling with his voice—some form of Skrull language or code—and soon Skrulls, both young and old, began emerging from all directions, gathering around the group.

  At first, Danvers and her group thought they were surrounding them for an attack, but then realized it was only a reunion. An emotional reunion, as it turned out, and Danvers finally realized that it wasn't really the Tesseract Talos was after, but his family—his wife, his child. That was the reason he had been so adamant and impatient, going through all the trouble of chasing, or perhaps leading her, across star systems all the way here.

  "We didn't know what to do… Mar-Vell instructed us not to send a signal for any reason… else the Kree would find us," the female Skrull—Talos's partner, undoubtedly—said to him. She looked absolutely relieved at this moment, and it was clear she had been waiting, patiently, for a very long time.

  "You did the right thing…" embracing his partner, Talos acknowledged. Though it had been a long time, this moment was worth it for him.

  "But who… is she, Talos?" the female Skrull asked again, pointing at Danvers—or more precisely, her uniform. Although not the standard color of Kree uniforms, she had been running from the Kree all her life and could recognize their gear at a glance.

  "She's with me… it's okay. She's the one who led me to you," Talos assured her lovingly.

  The emotional exchange continued, with Danvers apologizing to the Skrulls and Talos explaining his journey to finding them. Fury and Maria stood like passive observers, watching the exchanges, while the Tesseract remained stored inside a metal box in Maria's hand. And, unknowingly, they had all relaxed their guards.

  Maverick, standing by the metal wall of the chamber, shook his head, watching Carol play ping-pong with the children when they should have been planning their next move—either to stop Yon-Rogg or at least get the non-combatant Skrull women and children to safety, knowing he was on his way.

  But Maverick had no intention of reminding her, and besides, at this moment, neither Danvers nor Fury was even aware that he was already here.

  Soon, and sure enough, his magical senses detected a group heading their way, and before long, the door to the chamber clunked open with a mechanical shriek, startling everyone inside.

  The lab doors swung open, and six figures in Kree Starforce armor advanced, weapons raised and spreading with practiced precision. At their forefront strode Yon-Rogg, clad in flawless armor, his expression cold, clearly the authority among the group.

  As soon as his eyes landed on Danvers, sweeping over her new red-and-blue uniform, his face twisted from the scowl of betrayal to blatant disdain. "Fraternizing with the enemy, are we now, Vers?" he said coldly. "Tell me, what have you done to your uniform?"

  "My name," Danvers snapped, clenching her fists, "is Carol Danvers. Not! Vers!"

  Yon-Rogg's eyes narrowed. "It seems these Skrull… terrorists, have poisoned your mind beyond repair." He took a few steps in her direction, while his Kree soldiers raised their weapons, sweeping their aim over everyone in the room—the Skrulls, women, children, and even Fury and Maria.

  "YOU… HAVE BEEN LYING TO ME," Danvers shouted angrily. "You lied. About who I am. Where I came from."

  "I MADE YOU! I made you the best version of yourself." Yon-Rogg's eyes glinted with a disturbing possessiveness. "All that you are… you owe to me. To the Kree. And not—" he gestured sharply toward the green-skinned aliens, "to these… terrorists."

  Danvers could no longer contain her rage. She lunged recklessly, fist raised and photon energy flaring—but Yon-Rogg, as if reading her every move, acted too—not at her—and simply fiddled with a device on his belt.

  "What's given…" he said disdainfully, while crackling blue energy began to wrap around Danvers like spectral chains. "…can be taken away."

  It was clearly the Kree commander's doing, and as a result, Danvers' photon energy powers seemed to have vanish. She staggered forward, then sank to one knee, clutching her neck as she struggled against the invisible force that had drained her strength.

  "Do you understand now? What was given... can be taken away."

  "Enough with your lies. You didn't give me these powers," Carol gasped. "The blast from the light-speed engine six years ago gave me these powers."

  "True. And yet," Yon-Rogg countered, stepping closer, "what is all that power if you can't… control it?"

  Desperate, realizing the man she had believed was her mentor all these years was truly her enemy, the future Ms. Marvel then tried to forcibly grab the inhibitor off her neck, even if it meant enduring excruciating pain.

  Unfortunately, that was as far as she got before an energy blast from Yon-Rogg's wrist struck her squarely in the gut, and she collapsed, unconscious.

  "Carol!" Maria cried out, but Fury grabbed her arm, pulling her back before she could run toward her friend.

  "Don't! You can't help in this situation."

  They were out geared and outnumbered, and in that moment, Fury couldn't help but think of the wizard bastard who was so good at pissing him off. His eyes darted around the room but found nothing, no sign of them, and all he could do was mutter a curse under his breath.

  "Secure the target," Yon-Rogg commanded, and two soldiers lifted Carol's limp form. His attention then turned to the only two humans beside Danvers, and finally to the metal box, from which an ethereal blue glow was seeping from its closed lid. He smirked and walked toward them.

  "You would be wise to hand that over, human…"

  Fury still had no idea about the significance of the Tesseract—otherwise, Yon-Rogg might have had to take it over his dead body. He only knew it was some kind of energy core, nothing more. So given the situation, he reluctantly—but obediently—handed the metal box over.

  And Yon-Rogg, as though a decades-old ambition had been fulfilled, allowed his eyes to shine at the box containing Tesseract. But the moment he opened it, excitement gave way to utter perplexity.

  And then rage.

  "WHERE IS IT?"

  Before opening the box, a mysterious glow clearly emanated from the edges of its closed lid, and he was certain the Tesseract was inside. Why else would these two humans be guarding it? But when he opened it, it was empty—and even that glow had vanished.

  "Got no clue what you're talking about. That's where the kid stores his baseball, and before you came, I was just about to have a few throws with him."

  WACK!

  Yon-Rogg was in no mood for ridicule and punched Fury squarely in the face, rattling the superspy's senses with the impact. Yon-Rogg was no human—though he looked like one—and his physical prowess far exceeded any human's. His single blow sent Fury spinning before he hit the metal floor, collapsing and barely staying conscious.

  The Kree commander then looked at Maria, who glared back defiantly, but for some reason he didn't strike her, and commanded his minions.

  "Find the energy core. Search everywhere! Everywhere!"

  The grunts moved through the lab like efficient machines, tearing apart equipment and searching everywhere, while Maria and Fury had their weapons confiscated and were restrained in alien cuffs.

  Yon-Rogg cast another glance at Danvers' unconscious form on the metal floor, fully aware of what was happening inside her mind. "The Supreme Intelligence will deal with you soon enough, my perfect soldier," he murmured to himself, then shouted, "Take them to the holding cells. And keep the humans separate from the Skrulls."

  They were soon taken out of the main deck and shoved into a stark metal room, with just bare walls and a single cold light. The Skrulls were in one cell, and Maria and Fury were in the other—oh, and Goose too.

  Before the door slid shut, though, one of the grunts activated a scanner, running it over each one of them.

  The scanner passed over Goose first, emitting a series of frantic, high-pitched chirps and blue light before the guard's expression visibly changed, eyes widening.

  "Species: Flerken. Threat level: HIGH."

  "A what?"

  Another grunt rushed to him, hearing a name he wasn't expecting, and looked at the display before changing to a similar expression.

  "A Flerken of all things… here?"

  "Don't just stand there. Strap it."

  The second grunt immediately stepped forward, producing a complex-looking muzzle from who knows where, and with extreme caution, carefully fitted the device over the cat's head, securing it tightly. Goose only blinked with his adorable eyes, not flinching in the slightest, or perhaps simply clueless, at what was being done to it.

  The two grunts sighed as if having survived an encounter with death itself, then turned to Fury and Maria, who seemed confused as well. They seemed to have heard that name before, from Talos. Once then twice he had dismissed it, but this was the third time. Fury was skeptical now—this was the third person to claim his cat. His Goose was, in fact, not a cat.

  The grunts didn't care about the two's expressions and swept their scanner over them also, once on each.

  "Species: Human. Threat level: Low to none."

  Although they were still captured, they were curious to see what this strange alien device would grade them, but as soon as they heard the announcement, it was like having an arrow pierce their pride-filled human hearts.

  "That thing's clearly busted…"

  The alien huffed, cast one last disdainful glance at them, paid no mind to their reactions, and left, carrying Goose secured inside a high-tech cage.

  Meanwhile, back in the now-empty main dock of the spaceship, Maverick and Isabella were seen standing frozen, eyeing the strange, mesmerizing, and equally dangerous-looking cosmic cube that Yon-Rogg was searching for and Fury and Maria believed had inexplicably disappeared. Yes, when Danvers had handed it to Maria earlier to keep it secure, and while the others had relaxed their guards, Maverick had finally made his move and taken the cube into his hand.

  The illusion spell was unleashed to its limit as soon as Maverick laid eyes on the cube, and taking it from Maria's hand was really nothing difficult. But he still kept the illusion of something being inside the metal box, even after Yon-Rogg had arrived. As a result, as soon as they entered the chamber, they were all under the spell and had no idea that the metal box, with its fake glow along the lid edges, was in fact an illusion, and the box held nothing but empty air.

  And now… the Tesseract rested in Maverick's hands. Isabella watched him, waiting for him to speak, because, well, it had been a long moment since he had fallen into that deep, calculating silence.

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  Author's Note:

  You can find this story on Webnovel, Fanfiction, and ScribbleHub, all under the same author name: RyanFic. Updates drop first on Webnovel!

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