Just as Captain America was worrying himself sick over Banner's condition, Nick Fury's fate finally reached its final turning point.
Aboard the Skrull ship, Talos came alone, escorting Nick Fury and Hill, both long since locked down tight by Skrull-tech restraints, toward Heisenberg's house.
The ship was insanely fast. In only a short while, Nick could already see New York drawing closer through the window.
That city should have been decorated in endless lights, but today was different.
All Nick felt was that the city was frighteningly dark, as if even the lights had been swallowed by boundless shadows.
And the next thing that darkness would swallow would be him and Hill.
No!
Nick jerked his head up. He would not be going to the realm of death today, and he would not lose to someone else's betrayal.
No one gets to betray Nick Fury!
He forced his eyes toward Talos. Talos' face was usually expressive and friendly, but now it held nothing but endless coldness.
Inside the Skrull ship, pale purple light slanted across Talos' face, making his expression look especially ruthless.
"Talos," Nick said.
"You've got no way back now."
"You don't either, old friend!" Talos replied. Then he operated the ship and gradually brought it to a hover, finally stopping above the small rooftop airfield on Heisenberg's house.
Even though it was a small craft, it was still far larger than an ordinary helicopter. Heisenberg's little rooftop pad could not possibly hold it.
So Talos opened the hatch and controlled the ship to connect a cableway down to the airfield.
He grabbed Hill in one hand and Nick Fury in the other, lifting them both at once.
Then he leaned his back into the cableway. In the next instant, he was pressed tightly against it.
The cableway began to move. Talos slid over with ease and landed neatly on Heisenberg's roof. From far away, he could already see Heisenberg sleeping.
Seeing how completely unguarded Heisenberg was, Talos felt a flicker of envy. If he had power like that, how could the Kree Empire have hunted him for so many years?
But he straightened his mindset at once. He put on the smile he felt was most appropriate and walked toward Heisenberg at a steady pace.
"Hm?" Heisenberg narrowed his eyes. Even waking from a short nap, he never felt drowsy.
Or rather, even if he never slept in his life, he would only feel mental fatigue.
As for his body, it was always brimming with energy. He had no need to replenish himself with sleep.
Uh…
Sleeping with women was a different matter entirely.
Back to the point. Heisenberg sat up and waved at Talos.
"Welcome, Skrull. Especially since you brought me the gift I wanted."
As he spoke, Heisenberg stepped down from the lounge chair and walked over to Nick Fury and Hill.
Nick's gaze was calm, unbelievably so. Even though he knew perfectly well that Heisenberg had demanded his imprisonment, he still kept his emotions under control.
For an agent like him, self control had become a real habit.
Nick was good at wearing the expression the moment required.
It was just a pity…
Heisenberg did not look at him at all.
"Hello, Hill," Heisenberg greeted her. "How was your vacation on a Skrull ship?"
At those words, Hill instinctively glanced at Nick Fury. There was no obvious complaint in that glance, but everyone present understood it anyway.
Hill practically hated Nick Fury to the bone.
If Nick Fury had not made decisions on his own, how could she have been dragged off to aliens?
If she had been in S.H.I.E.L.D., then even if HYDRA staged a massive betrayal, Hill would have had ways to reduce the damage.
And if those two aliens had not fallen into a life or death crisis, Talos would not have used the two of them as bargaining chips to trade with Heisenberg.
Sigh…
Hill shook her head regretfully and answered, "Terrible. Just from staying on that ship for a little while, I almost lost the thing I've fought for my entire life."
After she spoke, Hill looked at Nick again.
This time, Nick silently turned his head away. He did not want to meet her eyes.
Watching the resentful, unwilling exchange between Hill and Fury, Heisenberg let out a small laugh and waved at Talos.
"What do I call you?"
"I am Talos. It is an honor to meet you."
"Mm. Just call me BOSS."
Heisenberg patted Talos on the shoulder and smiled at him.
"No need to be nervous. There probably won't be anything for you to do for a while. Go back and rest like usual. Want me to send you off?"
"I…?!!"
Hearing Heisenberg say he would send him away, Talos was stunned.
This Kryptonian really did not play by the rules.
At a time like this, shouldn't they be discussing the Skrulls' surrender and allegiance?
And now he was being told to leave just like that?
Was he being treated as a subordinate, or as a deliveryman?
Still, shocked as he was, Talos hurried back to the ship and left Earth without a sound.
Heisenberg watched the cloaked craft rise into the sky. Then he turned back to Hill and Fury, both looking a bit uneasy.
He walked to Hill and lightly tugged at the Skrull restraints binding her upper body.
It looked like he barely used any strength, but the high tech cuffs were instantly ruined.
At the same time, Heisenberg said to Hill, "You can go. I'm going to chat with Fury."
"Huh? I can leave just like that? You…?"
"Not willing? You can stay too," Heisenberg cut her off. "It's night, after all. There's a bed inside that can fit you lying down."
He joked as he waved for her to go.
In that moment, the unease in Hill's heart turned into worry.
She looked at Fury, whose face was blank and unreadable, then left decisively.
After Hill went downstairs, Heisenberg undid Fury's restraints. The two of them sat beside the liquor cabinet, and Heisenberg poured Nick Fury a glass.
Fury's face was cold as he drained it in one gulp. Heisenberg calmly poured him another.
Setting the bottle by Fury's hand, Heisenberg raised his glass and clinked once with him.
"To our HYDRA Director Nick Fury. Cheers!"
The moment the words landed, Fury's expression darkened visibly.
He gripped the glass so hard, forcing himself not to dump the drink in Heisenberg's face.
Taking a deep breath, he finished his second glass. Then as he poured himself another, he said, "It's ridiculous, isn't it? My subordinates were all enemies…"
"Haha. There are far more ridiculous things than that. Drink."
Heisenberg filled his own glass. The two clinked again and drank it down.
That was Fury's third whiskey.
Setting the glass down, Nick hesitated, then finally made up his mind.
He asked softly, "You don't want me going back to S.H.I.E.L.D., so I'm going to die."
"Look on the bright side," Heisenberg said with a grin. "Maybe I'll toss you into outer space and let you recruit people in the universe, then come back to Earth and counterattack me."
"Heh. That's worse than death."
"Fair enough. So do you have anything you want to say? Talk while you still can."
Heisenberg said it bluntly.
Nick was not frightened by it. Instead, he actually thought it through.
After a moment, he shook his head weakly.
"Until yesterday morning, I thought I was fairly successful. But now I've got nothing to say… Do it."
"You're surrendering just like that? To fate? That doesn't sound like you."
"Not to fate," Nick said seriously. "To you, Heisenberg."
"I've always suspected the accident with the Purple Man had your calculations behind it. Maybe you only placed a casual piece for the next step, but you won. That casual piece precisely took my knight and my king!"
Hearing Nick Fury say that, Heisenberg smiled and shook his head.
"Stop it. You were the one who trusted John Gattler. You were the one who sent those HYDRA members to capture the Purple Man. You were the one who had the Skrulls play you while you hid among the Skrulls. What do you think?"
…
Those words drifted into Nick's ears, and he fell silent at once.
Heisenberg's gaze was full of mockery, and Nick could not refute him. He really had done it all himself.
Trusting John Gattler. Trusting the Skrulls.
He still did not even know the identity of his former superior, Alexander Pierce.
If he did, he would probably feel even worse.
And as Nick Fury sank into silence, Heisenberg asked him, "Answer me one question, buddy. Why did you trust the Skrulls, but not trust me, another alien?"
As he spoke, he slapped the table in dissatisfaction.
"To you, I'm no different from the Skrulls, right? We're both aliens.
"But in the dozen or so days I've been on Earth, I've had more than eighty of your spies around me. More than fifty of them were female agents.
"You even had your poor subordinates stripping in nightclubs. How could you bear that?
"I get it. I'm not from Earth, so you fear me. That's fine.
"But the Skrulls? Why did you trust them so much that you even handed your identity over to them? Just because I'm stronger than them and they're uglier than me?"
"No. You don't understand," Nick said, facing Heisenberg's questioning. "I don't trust the Skrulls. I trust my friend, far out in the universe!"
"Then they must be very strong," Heisenberg said, pretending to be surprised.
"That's right!"
Nick nodded, his face strangely relieved as he explained, "She's a woman like the sun, with a greatness and power you can't imagine. Talos and I witnessed that greatness together. I believe Talos wouldn't dare betray my friend!"
"I understand."
Heisenberg nodded, looking approvingly at Nick.
"You and I have something in common. We only believe in power.
"But my power is these fists.
"I'm a lazy person. Even if I've got an extraordinary brain, I'm too lazy to think, to study, to learn.
"And I don't need to think. I can do anything I want with my fists.
"As for you, your power is your mind. You believe every one of your judgments.
"You thought you could provoke me, so you planted spies around me.
"You thought your friend's power was worth trusting, so you dared to rely on her and forge an alliance with Talos like sworn brothers.
"We're both the kind of people who believe in ourselves. So tell me, do you really think I'll spare you just because of your friend?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Heisenberg did not wait for Nick to answer.
His eyes flashed with red light.
Nick Fury's brain was vaporized in an instant. His eyes rolled white, and he collapsed face first onto the table, like a man who had drunk himself unconscious.
"What a pity you won't get to see me fight your friend. I hope she can surprise me a little. I hope…"
Heisenberg stood and left, returning to his lounge chair to keep enjoying the ever present solar radiation.
As for Nick Fury, it did not take long before Billy and his men carried him away and dumped him into the sea.
/-\
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