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.

—————————

Author's Note:

🔥 Drop those Power Stones! 🔥

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