A secret weapon?
Was that truly necessary? With just that one phrase, Alex had thoroughly piqued the curiosity of every mutant present.
For someone of Alex's stature—someone they had seen shatter limits time and again—to give such high praise, there could be no doubt: whoever this Carol Danvers was, she must be extraordinary. The room was suddenly brimming with unspoken questions.
"Alex, who exactly is this Carol? Why do you value her so highly?" Mystique finally gave voice to the thought everyone else was holding back. Her yellow eyes gleamed with curiosity as her tone pressed for details.
Others followed with equally inquisitive stares, all of them fixed on Alex.
"Carol is just an ordinary Air Force pilot right now," Alex said, his tone calm but carrying the weight of conviction. "But in the near future, she will become a warrior of unparalleled strength."
He spoke without hesitation, as though declaring a truth etched into stone.
To an outsider, such a claim might have sounded like superstition or fortune-telling—who could know the future so clearly? Yet none of the mutants doubted him. Alex's word had long since surpassed ordinary credibility; when he spoke with certainty, the impossible became believable.
They remembered. The Decepticon war—when Alex had somehow known the origins of the towering robots before anyone else had a clue. The battles with the Lolians, with Mr. Sinister, with beings no one had ever even imagined until Alex had faced them head-on. Time and again, he had unveiled truths hidden from the rest of them.
And hadn't Alex even traveled to the future once before? Knowing about future powerhouses was, for him, almost… natural.
So instead of skepticism, their interest only deepened. Who was this woman destined to stand alongside Alex?
"Just keep an eye on her? Nothing else?" Charles asked, studying Alex intently, his voice serious as if weighing hidden meanings.
"No," Alex replied simply. "Just monitor her for now."
Charles gave a small nod. That was enough.
Without wasting time, the group left for the Cerebro chamber once again. The spherical room thrummed faintly with psychic energy as Charles settled into his chair and lowered the familiar helmet onto his head. His eyes closed, his expression tightening with focus as his mind stretched across the globe.
Moments later, his face darkened.
"Alex… you were right." His voice was heavy as stone. "There are indeed Skrulls and Kree—lurking—on Earth. Many of them. They've infiltrated key functional departments, and some have even climbed into positions of genuine authority."
A wave of tension swept through the room. Jaws clenched. Eyes narrowed.
Although they had suspected infiltration, none of them had expected the web to be so vast, so insidious.
"Outrageous!" Erik's voice cracked like a whip, brimming with disdain. His hands tightened into fists, metal around the room shuddering in sympathy. "What do these interstellar parasites take Earth for?"
First the Decepticons. Then the Lolians. Then the Maggans decades earlier. Again and again, alien forces had descended, viewing Earth as nothing but a chessboard. And now the Kree and Skrulls dared the same?
Enough was enough.
"They've come one after another, treating our planet like a hunting ground," Erik continued bitterly. "And now they want the Tesseract as well?"
"Yes," Charles confirmed grimly, his brow furrowed in concentration as he sifted through memories. "Their agents infiltrated these departments specifically to uncover the Tesseract's location. And they've already pieced together many clues. At this pace, it won't be long before the Kree trace it directly back to us."
A ripple of unease passed through the gathering.
"Their goal is indeed the Tesseract?" Raven asked, her tone sharp, already thinking ahead to the risks.
"Yes." Charles's nod was heavy. "The Skrulls already know we have it. Their presence here is partly to monitor the Kree and partly to serve their own ambitions. Don't be fooled—whatever face they show, that race is not benign."
"Then we should prepare early!" White Queen said firmly, her cool eyes glinting with steel.
Murmurs of agreement followed. They had only one advantage: they knew the truth before their enemies had fully acted.
"Alex, what are your thoughts?" Hank asked, adjusting his glasses nervously. His voice carried the weight of the group's collective expectation.
All gazes turned again to Alex. Though the mutant leadership formally lay with Charles, Erik, and Alex together, there was no mistaking who truly held their trust at the highest level.
"My thoughts?" Alex's lips curved in something that was not quite a smile. A sharp glint flickered in his eyes, colder than steel. "Kill them all. Whether Kree or Skrull—exterminate every last one hiding on Earth."
The words fell like thunder.
"Exactly! That's the Alex I know!" White Queen's laughter rang out, icy and approving. "Those scheming vermin deserve nothing less than obliteration."
"I agree," Erik rumbled, his voice fierce, his approval immediate.
One after another, the others nodded grimly. Even Charles, so often accused of excessive compassion, could not summon a single objection. These were not innocents—they were invaders, threats poised to endanger the entire planet. Mercy toward them was folly.
The only hesitation that lingered was tactical. Striking so decisve alerting their greater forces beyond Earth.
But Mystique broke the silence with a sardonic laugh. "Alert the enemy? That no longer matters. The Skrulls already know the Tesseract is in our hands. The Kree have gathered enough leads to find us soon. What's the point of hiding now?"
The truth of her words struck home. Their window for stealth had closed. Action was all that remained.
In short order, consensus was reached. Every Skrull and Kree agent embedded on Earth would be eliminated.
The problem, however, was not small. These infiltrators had blended seamlessly into human society. Many occupied high-ranking posts. If they were struck down publicly, the repercussions would be enormous. Panic would spread. Fragile alliances might shatter. The delicate balance between mutants and ordinary humans could collapse overnight.
Charles's expression tightened with that very concern.
Alex noticed immediately. He leaned back slightly, confidence radiating from him, and then spoke with a calm smile. "If that's what worries you, Charles, then I have the perfect solution." His eyes gleamed, sharp as blades. "You don't need to expose them. Do it from right here. Use your power to reach into their minds… and crush them. Silently. End them all in a single stroke."
The chamber froze.
For a breath, the others stared, startled by the ruthlessness of the suggestion. Then, one by one, their eyes lit with dawning realization.
It was brilliant. Elegant. Terrifying. And it was exactly the kind of solution only Alex would dare to propose.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For 60 advanced chapters, visit my Patreon:
Patreon - Twilight_scribe1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~