~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For 40 advanced chapters, visit my Patreon:
Patreon - Twilight_scribe1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Skrulls' complete collapse in composure allowed everyone else to quietly reclaim a bit of control over the situation.
Vers turned to Maria Rambeau, who was finishing bandaging Monica's wound, and asked, "Maria, do you have anything that can play that thing?"
General Talos cautiously reminded them, "It's best to use a computer. The files on that disc aren't ordinary audio tracks—normal players won't work." As he spoke, he still didn't dare get too close to the woman holding the Flerken.
While packing up the first-aid kit, Maria Rambeau shot the Skrull an irritated look. In the end, she still compromised. "I do. There's a modern computer in my workshop. I can try to see if it can read what's on the disc."
The truth from six years ago wasn't something only the Skrulls wanted to know. Vers wanted it. Maria Rambeau—who had lost her closest friend—wanted it as well. What exactly had been recorded in that black box, which her superiors had claimed was destroyed? Of course she was curious.
As for the score over her daughter being bitten, that could be set aside for now. It wasn't forgiven—just postponed.
Everyone moved to a small detached building next to the main house. One room was filled with tools and materials, while another, quieter room contained a desk with a state-of-the-art computer running Windows 95.
While the system booted up, Maria Rambeau led her daughter outside the workshop and sat her down on a chair. She took out a Walkman and a pair of headphones.
The girl with the explosive afro, having clearly learned nothing from being bitten by a tiger, protested loudly, "Why can't I listen too? I want to know what happened!"
"No negotiations," Maria said firmly. "If this is classified material, just hearing it would be a crime. Don't think being young gives you a free pass—this isn't an ordinary offense. There's no juvenile protection for breaches of secrecy."
"Fine," Monica Rambeau said, not the type to throw a senseless tantrum. With her mother's help, she put on the headphones and listened to the music.
As a retired Air Force pilot—and one who had participated in classified projects—Maria Rambeau was extremely sensitive about matters like this. Retirement hadn't dulled that instinct at all.
After making sure her daughter was protected, she looked at the others. The meaning in her eyes was obvious.
Henry was the first to raise both hands and back away. "I'm just a civilian. I don't have clearance for classified material. I'll wait outside." With that, he took Katie with him and moved away from the workshop, stopping under the shade of a tree, facing the Skrulls who had once again disguised themselves as humans from a distance.
Barbara Morse, the S.H.I.E.L.D. trainee, wasn't quite sure where she stood. In the end, Nick Fury gave her instructions.
"Bobbi, keep an eye on the Skrulls. If they make any suspicious moves, shoot immediately. I'll hear the gunfire from inside."
"Yes, sir," Barbara replied. Instead of standing with Henry, she took position by a pillar on the workshop's porch—able to monitor the Skrulls while also guarding the workshop behind her, as well as the Black girl sitting outside.
Henry could afford to leave so casually because of his super hearing. He could hear everything happening inside the workshop without being present—avoiding unnecessary suspicion or the risk of violating secrecy laws.
After all, his super hearing hadn't been exposed yet. Not using it properly would be a waste.
The black box playback was, in essence, an audio recording of Carol Danvers piloting the experimental aircraft during its test flight, with Dr. Wendy Lawson seated in the copilot's seat—the recording from their final flight on the day of the accident.
After the crash, the equipment hadn't completely shut down, so any sounds near the microphone were still captured.
This included Dr. Lawson bleeding blue blood, and the two of them being pursued by alien spacecraft outside Earth's atmosphere—so many elements that defied common sense that it was no wonder the Air Force investigators had never dared to release the recording.
But for the person involved, hearing words she herself had once spoken caused those memories to surface all at once—along with even more buried information.
Who had killed Dr. Wendy Lawson. Why she herself had been gravely injured and fallen into a coma. What crucial memories she had lost. And who the true instigator behind it all was.
As everything came flooding back, it shattered the worldview she had built over the past six years.
She was not a proud Kree warrior. She wasn't even Kree at all—she was a native of Earth, a human from a backward planet.
For Vers—or rather, Carol Danvers—she didn't even know which was more devastating: the collapse of her worldview, or the realization that she had been deceived and exploited by the Kree.
The lost warrior burst out of the workshop, seemingly wanting to scream at the sky—but the pressure choking her chest prevented any sound from coming out.
The Skrull general followed close behind. This was exactly the moment he had been waiting for. The enemy of my enemy is my friend—a truth that held across the universe.
He did his best to persuade Carol Danvers, now with her memories restored, to stand on the same side as the Skrulls. This was the very reason he had revealed his true form and confronted these humans face-to-face.
"So what exactly do you want me to do?" Carol Danvers snapped, already agitated. "You heard it yourself—the faster-than-light engine was destroyed. It blew up. Nothing was left."
Being harassed by people she had considered enemies just moments ago, when her emotions were already in turmoil, she was showing remarkable restraint by not blasting them with a photon blast. Changing sides was even more out of the question.
Talos, however, knew more than these Earthlings. "No. What was destroyed was only the faster-than-light engine itself. The engine's core was stored elsewhere. That location—that's what I'm looking for."
"And if I let you get your hands on something like that," Carol shot back, "won't you just use it for war? Like what happened to the planet Torfa—reduced to ruins, its civilization completely destroyed?"
"No! That wasn't us," Talos said firmly. "That was Accuser Ronan's doing—to wipe us out. We were nothing more than refugees, struggling to survive on Torfa."
"You're lying—"
Talos cut in, his voice softer, almost pleading. "I don't know what the Kree told you. But our goal has always been just one thing: to find the faster-than-light engine that Dr. Wendy Lawson was researching for us.
"And then use it to gather our people, scattered across the galaxy, and escape to a place the Kree can never find. A quiet life. Maybe beyond the Milky Way—another distant galaxy, or even another universe. Anywhere will do."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
🎉 Power Stone Goal Announcement! 🎉
I'll release one bonus chapter for every 500 Power Stones we hit!"
Let me know what should I do
Your support means everything—let's crush these goals together! Keep voting, and let the stones pile up! 🚀
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~