Chapter 95: Arc 3: Chapter 12: The Truth

"Everyone, the Skrull in front of you right now is no Mr. Nobody. His name is Talos, the leader of the Skrull's military forces, or at least, he was."

In the living room at Maria's farmhouse, Carol Danvers looks at the bound alien and introduces him to the others:

"The ancestors of the Skrull received an unimaginably great return from the war of subversion they're so good at, so they've been planning on expanding their invasion boundaries in every generation."

"They've been winning, they built a massive empire using their ability to shapeshift and the resources they acquired from invasion. That is until they aimed for the Kree Empire."

"The Supreme Intelligence of the Kree Civilization had been aware of the Skrull's plans tens of thousands of years before, it alerted the threat to many of its war leaders as well as the Accusers, so the Kree Empire mobilized their forces to war with the Skrulls. However, no one could've imagined the war...would last until now."

Carol seemed to not want to talk about the Kree Civilization, so she turns the topic to the alien Talos in front of her.

The blonde lady stands up and tells the others with caution:

"Our Mr. Talos here was once the most trusted intelligence officer of the Skrull Queen, he once directed the specialized Skrull spies to infiltrate and subvert many civilizations."

"He's a true spymaster, in the Kree army, the head of Mr. Talos is 80,000,000 units; however, Talos mysteriously went missing a dozen years ago."

"Some rumors state that Talos brought a small group of Skrulls who lost their home from the war, detached from the Skrull Queen's rule, and fled to the edge of the galaxy. Though I never thought I would see the famous commander in the galaxy here."

"So, Mr. Talos, is this another subversion op?"

Fury raises an eyebrow and asks with a deep tone:

"So your target this time, is Earth?"

"Do not joke, Earthling."

Talos maintains his weird posture while being chained, he looks at Fury with an odd expression and says:

"You flatter yourself too much, with your current technology, it won't even take the Skrull spies...the Queen will only need a cruiser fleet to easily occupy your world. You haven't stepped onto the stage of intergalactic warfare."

"Maybe, in the eyes Miss Carol, you are but a group of primitive savages...despite she came from you."

Talos lets out a low laugh and swiftly changes the topic before Carol Danvers got angry.

He tells Fury and the other agents in front of him:

"What Carol told you is real, no doubts about that. I did serve the Queen once before, but that was a long time ago...I almost lost my loved ones in the war, it made me realize that the Queen's war will not only make the Kree suffer, but for us too."

"Most importantly, the Queen has no other choice after the Kree destroyed our home planet."

"She either leads us to destroy the Kree or die in battle with us; but regardless of what ending, Skrull Civilization will crumble."

Talos says in a depressed tone:

"This isn't what I wish to see, nor is it what our ancestors wanted to see. So I detached myself from the spy force and led my people who were willing to follow me to roam the galaxy, trying to find a new home not plagued by the war...but the entire galaxy had been affected by the Skrull-Kree War. We have to leave the galaxy if we want to live and rebuild our civilization."

Talos raises his head and looks at Fury:

"To safely cross the battlefield and leave the galaxy with both sides on our tails, we require one thing..."

"The Light-Speed Engine."

"What's that?"

 Fury asks back:

He could feel that this so-called Light-Speed Engine was something good, unfortunately, he could not understand how good it was with his current scientific knowledge.

"It's an engine used for warships that's still in theory even amongst Kree technology."

Standing aside, Carol explains in a soft tone:

"I've heard Yon Rogg talk about this, he said that the Supreme Intelligence has been using much of its calculative capacity in an attempt to simulate the prototype for the Light-Speed Engine. Once it was put to use, it would increase the efficiency of all current warships by 500%, enabling them to move 10 times faster through space."

"As fast as light?"

Merlin asks, which grabs Talos' mockery.

"Nonono, the Light-Speed Engine is much faster than light! Its true use is to allow warships to open wormholes more frequently, allowing us exiles to flee the battlefield before we could be aimed at by enemy warships."

As he finishes, he looks at the indifferent Carol Danvers and says:

"6 years ago, Mar-Vell contacted me, saying that she's completed the design and creation of the Light-Speed Engine, she had also engineered her lab to a refugee ship. But when I arrived on Earth with what's left of my people, all I received was news that Mar-Vell was dead."

"Wendy Lawson?"

Fury asks, to which Talos nods, he tilts his head and looks at Fury, saying:

"Right, that's Mar-Vell's cover identity on Earth."

"But, Yon Rogg told me that Mar-Vell was a spy sent by the Kree military, and she was here on Earth to study that special energy to create a weapon to help the Kree end the war!"

Carol looks at Talos and says with confusion:

"So, who should I believe?"

"He did not lie to you, poor Carol."

Talos lets out a deep laugh and says:

"The highest level of telling lies is to speak truthfully, yet when it's all mixed together, it becomes a lethal lie."

"Mar-Vell was a Kree spy, but she was a rare pacifist, who like me, lost a lot in the war. What makes her more special than the other Kree is that she considers the consequences war brings. She's seen many injustices in the Kree's war..."

"Us exiles who have left the battlefield are still within range of your warships' ruthless annihilation."

"Mar-Vell is different from those hypocrites, we've saved each other once before, she's my only Kree friend."

Talos says:

"She contacted me saying that she'll help us design the Light-Speed Engine, and help us who don't want the war to leave the galaxy in search of a new home."

"She even told me that the Kree's design of the Light-Speed engine is correct, they couldn't make any advancements because of their lack of spatial energy."

"And that energy appeared on Earth!"

The Skrull leader says in a deep tone:

"This is why Mar-Vell came to Earth, everything she did was not to end the war, but to save lives."

"Right! Wendy Lawson did say that to us a lot."

Maria holds Carol's hand and says to her best friend:

"She always says that it's not to end the war, but to do some good."

"But, Yon Rogg, he said..."

Carol wanted to say something, but Natasha who was beside her interrupts her.

The Black Widow brushes her wine-red long hair and tells Carol:

"Forget that Yon Rogg, I may not know your story, but from what I do know, that Kree is clearly manipulating your thoughts, you see, if all the evidence you found so far is true, and they are true! It means that he's already lied to you once."

"Men can lie to you a second time if they do it once before."

"Carol, believe me, I've been through the same thing...however, your situation is much worse than mine."

Natasha pats on Carol's shoulder and says:

"I ended that relationship of lying and being lied to with a bullet, Carol, what you need may be more than a bullet."

"And you're an Earthling, Carol, you've read the documents."

Merlin also speaks:

"You were never a Kree. Don't let yourself be affected by the false memories in your head. Not to mention, I'm curious as to why you trust that Yon Rogg so much? Did he save you? Is he your lover?"

"He saved me! More than once!"

Carol's tone intensifies as she says:

"From the beginning, I was sent to Hala in a half-dead state. The doctors said that I was hopeless, but Yon Rogg saved me using his blood, one-third of the blood in my body comes from him...he gave me life, he trained me and absorbed me into Starforce."

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"Wrong!"

The silent Barton shakes his head, the cold agent says the point:

"He saved you to corrupt you! He trained you to become his war machine! He's the root of all your evil!"

"This is probably why you can't recover your memories, Carol."

Fury looks back at the dazed blonde girl and says:

"You have Kree blood in you...you're no longer pure Earthling. Those alien scum may be controlling you through this method."

"Then what should we do?"

As Carol's once best friend, the pilot Maria consoles the depressed carol next to her and asks:

"Do we have to exchange her blood? Hemodialysis?"

"No!"

Fury shakes his head, he looks at the quiet Talos and says:

"Why not ask Mr. Talos? He's fought against the Kree for most of his life, he should know more about the Kree's methods than any one of us."

"Bam"

As Fury signaled him, Merlin reaches out and frees Talos, then points his gun at his head.

Fury points at Carol and says to the Skrull:

"Didn't you say you mean us no harm?"

"Come, prove your sincerity."

The freed Talos moves his wrists, picks up and finishes the glass of water on the table, then pours a glass of water for his tied-up subordinate.

He turns to look at Fury and says:

"You trust me? Earthling. You must know, that there aren't many lifeforms in the galaxy who'll trust a Skrull."

"I don't."

Fury says truthfully.

"So you live if she lives, if she dies, you die."

Merlin continued what Fury didn't finish.

"Hahaha, means of force."

Talos did not mind the gun pointed at the back of his head, he tells everyone in front of him:

"Relax, I won't let Miss Carol die, at least, I'll protect her as best as I can until she reveals the location of the Light-Speed Engine."

"As for Miss Carol's issue...it's quite easy to deal with."

Talos moves his fingers and tells Carol:

"We just need to finish what we didn't finish doing on the ship."

"The Skrulls have a talent that allows them to peek into others' memories. The Kree's memory blockade, to put it simply, is like placing a piece of white paper over the memories; I can awaken Carol's sleeping memories once I find it."

The alien blinks at Fury and says softly:

"You get your super-soldier, and I get my hope for the survival of my race."

"Oh, right, and to show my sincerity, I'll give you this for now."

Talos takes out a disk-like object from his black jacket, hands it to Fury, and says:

"This is what I found on the last message Mar-Vell left before her plane crash, in it is the voice of Miss Carol, this proves that she was right next to Mar-Vell when she died. And I found an important password in Miss Carol's memories which, unfortunately, we've been unable to crack."

Fury looks at Talos and takes the disk, Barton who was next to him quickly opens the house computer, inserts the disk, and after a long extraction process, a hurried female voice resounds from it.

"I never should've brought you along. They're here, they know my secret and they won't let me live. I'm sorry, Carol, I implicated you into this."

"Don't be silly, Lawson. Hold on, I'm accelerating."

"We're hit, dammit! Eject! Eject!"

"Lawson! Get ready! I'm gonna make a forced landing!"

"BOOM"

A string of explosions like they had landed successfully, or that something had exploded.

"That's your voice, right?"

Merlin looks back at Carol, the latter purses her lips and nods.

"Give us some space to talk."

Merlin says so after seeing the uncertainty in Carol's eyes. Fury nods to the others, so everyone in the room leaves.

"The last time we separated, I told you that I know how it feels to be homeless."

Merlin sits next to Carol, he looks at her and says:

"I had thought I was in a bad situation already, Carol. But after knowing your story, I realize that fate has been quite kind to me."

"But these laments won't solve the situation at hand...the alien, I don't trust him, but he can help you with your problem, help you find your true self."

Carol did not answer, Merlin stands up, reaches out, and brushes Carol's long blonde hair, he says softly:

"I know that this isn't about whether or not to take the risk."

"It's about whether or not it's worth it...you too are fearing the soon-to-come truth, maybe, you caused Mar-Vell's death. Maybe, you're a real Kree, just one that's been born on Earth..."

"Yes."

Carol says softly:

"I'm scared, Merlin. You're right, I'm scared that I may not be who I think myself to be."

The always expressively strong blonde woman raises her head, tears began to form in her blue eyes; she looks at Merlin, and like a stubborn girl who's lost, she says in a trembling voice:

"God, I've lived as a Kree for 6 years, and now I know that I lived on Earth for 22 years before that. You're all telling me I'm an Earthling, but my instincts are telling me I'm a Kree."

She scratches her hair like she was about to break down.

"God...who am I? Merlin, tell me, who am I?"

Merlin shakes his head, he reaches out and hugs Carol. This hug was simply two people with the same fate snuggling together for warmth.

Merlin lightly pats on Carol's shoulder and says in a low tone:

"You're Carol Danvers."

"You're still you, just pretend that it was all a dream. If you had no life, then create one with your own two hands. I did so back then, I chose to start over when I didn't know who I was."

"I have my life and I healed myself. Now, it's your turn to heal yourself."

Merlin lets go of the weeping girl in his arms, he looks at the crying Carol Danvers and says with a smile:

"You're like another me, Carol."

"We never have to prove ourselves to anyone else."

"Wipe your tears, let that Skrull help you, help us...find the things that were lost."

 

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