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A large vessel crept through space, its unique design known through many in the cosmos as was the design which bore its allegiance - the Skrull Empire.
The vessel had seen many of battles. The amount of weaponry contained onboard was enough to ravage a small planet and as it inched through space, the pace of which the vessel traveled did not signal a call to arms, it was more as if they were looking for something; something that the Empire knew was a threat.
"Scanners are showing no signs of Number Ninety-Seven, Commander." The Skrull communication's officer announced.
The vessel's Captain rested in the Command chair, one hand bracing his cleft chin as he was deep in thought. "Keep the sensors on wide scan. We must find him for the sake of the Skrull Empire," The Commander of the space vessel uttered. "I want every parsec scanned, every speck of dust analyzed. We must find him."
The interior lighting switched to a flashing crimson as klaxons raged loudly out of nowhere. All the visual screens on the command bridge switched quickly to one section of space, enlarging the smallest of objects into the threat they had feared – and it was coming their way.
"Commander..." The Skrull navigator turned with wide fear struck eyes. "He has found us!"
The Skrull Commander rose from the Captain's chair, his eyes fixated on the giant vessel's monitor. His green skin seemed to shift in color as the vessel's red warning lights continued to flood the entire ship. The roaring klaxons would have made a loud shout into the faintest of whisper. The Commander knew it and just mumbled what would have been considered a prayer.
"May Kly'bn greet us…"
The Commander was barely able to finish his thought as the giant warship rocked from a deep impact into its hull. Exterior shields rerouted from the puncture attack only to be rocked again and again until its shields dispersed. An energy beam exploded from inside the ship, ripping the exterior hull into pieces causing the Skrull vessel slowed to a halt.
Two neighboring Skrull vessel's opened canon fire onto the now decimated Skrull battleship obliterating what was left of the vessel. Out of the space debris a streak of light exited and rammed into one of the two Skrull destroyers and within a blink, every member of the lone functional ship witnessed their impending doom.
Death had visited the Skrull search party and it was garbed in red and blue with only a symbol of a star upon its chest.
# # # # # # # # # # # # # # #
Baxter Building
For the first time in months, Benjamin Grimm, otherwise known as the Thing, kicked back his massive feet and let out a sigh of relief. His massive girth engulfed the entire sofa and he wanted to just remain there…doing nothing. Being part of the Fantastic Four was always busy, yet their battle and return from the Negative Zone just seemed more exhausting than usual. Maybe it was age creeping in. Maybe it was something altogether different. Either way, at the present moment he had a drink ready for one hand and a lit cigar in another, and no one was going to take that away from him.
"Benjamin Grimm -" a voice rang out of nowhere.
His own name startled him, his reflexes causing his massive hand to graze upon his drink, causing it to fall from the table. "Fer cryin' out loud!"
It was a reflex, an instinct for an unknown voice calling his name in his home, but that fraction of a second extended to an eternity as the falling glass paused before shattering upon the floor. There would be no shards of glass sprayed upon the floor. No crash from two objects coming into contact with each other. Though odd, Benjamin Grimm had seen this event occur many of times.
"Libra!" uttered the Thing, instantly recognizing the source of the voice. “...It's Clobberrin' Time!"
Libra gestured with a free hand to stop, his voice calm as the Thing approached. "I did not come here to fight you, Benjamin Grimm. I come here for your aide. The scales of balance are beginning to tip and you would be of great use to realign that balance."
"Yer lips are flappin' but it isn't registerin', Gustav!"
"I do not need prowess of understanding, Benjamin Grimm. I would have contacted your Reed Richards if I did," Libra clarified. "You provide a certain skill set needed for this event."
Thing looked at Libra cautiously. "You need me to do some bashin'?"
"I need you to follow me."
# # # # # # # # # # # # # # #
Mar-Vell streaked across the black void of space, his distinct energy signature causing a trail of energy trickling through its vacuum. His focus was staunch, his eyes ready for any Skrull ship that had plagued him for weeks, but his cosmic awareness caused the Kree warrior to stop abruptly.
Mar-Vell peered down toward the planet below, his cosmic awareness continuing to rage inside his mind. In a blink, Mar-Vell raced down through the planet's atmosphere, his energy shielding him from the descent. His feet touched down upon its dusty surface, his eyes now gazing upon a string of caves once occupied centuries ago.
"You can come out now!" Mar-Vell shouted, knowing someone or something awaited him.
The Thing merely smirked, his gigantic stone hands pressing his fingers as if he was preparing to use them as he appeared from the cave.
Mar-Vell's eyes widened with rage as he looked upon the Thing's features emerge from the shadows. "I will let you know Skrull, that the form you take now was a person I called friend."
"I was thinkin' the same thing," replied Thing.
Mar-Vell opened with one step toward his opponent as the next one was just a blur of energy as he hyper-accelerated to close the gap which separated him from the Thing. A mixture of Mar-Vell's interstellar speed and enhanced strength was a deadly mix for any who came across such an attack, the Thing being no exception. A strong right cross stunned the Thing. Mar-Vell connected with another blow to the Thing's midsection, as the militaristic mind which Mar-Vell possessed was in full display to the ever loving Thing.
"You sure do hit like Mar-Vell," Thing uttered as he tried to shake the ringing in his head.
"I am Mar-Vell!" The cosmic hero replied, as he strolled toward Thing as if he was enjoying the battle.
"And I'm the ever lovin' Thing," Thing shouted as he crashed a blow into the Kree's face. "How did that feel?"
Mar-Vell could do nothing else but chuckle as he wiped the speck of blood which appeared at the corner of his mouth. "That was good...for a Skrull." The name of the shape-shifting race rolling off Mar-Vell's tongue with a sense of bitterness.
"I ain't no blasted Skrull!" Thing roared as his giant fist came crashing down toward Mar-Vell's head.
Mar-Vell's reflexes were able to evade the blow by the smallest of margins, the energy field which was erected around Mar-Vell's body sparking from the friction of the two surfaces. With just pure instinct, Mar-Vell unleashed a fury of energy from his Nega-bands into the body of the Thing which sent the Thing flying and crashing into a nearby mountain.
Dazed, the Thing was able to see Mar-Vell launch himself toward his position, though it took a second for his mind to register one target rather than two. He could hear his opponent land near him as he looked upward toward the image he once called friend.
"Why is the Skrull Empire hunting me?" Mar-Vell asked coldly, his eyes strong with sincerity.
"You actually have no clue what is going on, huh?" The Thing chuckled.
"Enlighten me," Mar-Vell replied as the Nega-bands placed on both his arms seemingly came to life with charged energy.
"You ain't Mar-Vell."
An annoyed look washed over Mar-Vell's face. "You waste my time, Skrull."
"You ain't -"
"Now you waste my patience -" Mar-Vell said.
Thing's eyes widened as what had appeared in orbit behind Mar-Vell became a bigger concern. A skyscraper sized ship appeared descending down upon the planet’s atmosphere. It quickly darkened what seemed to be the entire planet, or at least as far as the Thing could see. He could feel the surface below his feet rattle, small pebbles shaking off the very ground until they were pulverized into dust.
"I think we are in trouble," Thing uttered.
"It is a Skrull destroyer," Mar-Vell replied. "It is after me. There are dozen more like it in orbit. They have found me and plan to show no mercy to this planet as long as they eliminate me."
"But you are a green skinned Skrull yourself."
Mar-Vell's eyes raged at the comparison. "I...AM...MAR-VELL!"
The ships belly opened numerous ports, energy canons now being easily seen even with a considerable distance separating the two. A salvo of energy blasts rained down upon the planet causing Mar-Vell's scream of acceptance to go on unheard. A large cloud of pulverized planet blanketed the area, only hiding the many craters created from the attack. The debris slowly dispersed to show Mar-Vell’s energy shield erect and intact.
"Are you injured?" Mar-Vell asked, his concentration remaining fixed on maintaining his energy shield that surrounded the two.
"Are you injured?" Thing returned the question, amazed by what this Mar-Vell had just done.
"I am fine. You have to leave," Mar-Vell said as he looked upwards at the descending Skrull armada.
"You can’t survive those many..."
"GO!" Mar-Vell urged as he rocketed skyward.
Benjamin Grimm did not know the man which appeared before him disguised as the Kree Captain Mar-Vell, yet his words and the look in his eyes were almost familiar from days long past.
For the first time that he could remember, the Thing ran. He didn't look back as sparks rained down from the heavens until he was able to get to back to the cave he had first appeared.
"You did very good, Benjamin Grimm," Libra announced from the shadows. He gazed upwardly as Mar-Vell battled a Skrull armada in an awesome display of explosions which lit the sky.
"Good job?" An infuriated Thing shouted as he crashed a punch into the cavern walls. "You said that man was not Mar-Vell."
"He is not."
"He sure did just act like Mar-Vell."
"I can assure you he is not."
"Tell me why I'm supposed to believe you?"
"Goodbye, Benjamin Grimm," said Libra. With a simple tap from Libra upon the chest of the Thing, the next thing Benjamin Grimm knew was that he was back in the Baxter Building.
# # # # # # # # # # # # # # #
The battle was over.
Mar-Vell had won yet he lay motionless as his respirations began to become rapid. He had won the battle, but the injuries he had sustained took their toll upon his now battered body. Moving hurt, and even he had limits. He remained still, not knowing that his Kree pink complexion had shifted to green.
"You really think you are Mar-Vell?" Libra asked, looking down upon Mar-Vell.
"Who..." With labored breathe, liquid pressing onto his lungs Mar-Vell asked. His eyes focused on a shrouded man, only a large visor and his mouth easily seen. "...Who are you?"
Libra simply smirked at the question, pulling back his hood to reveal more of the man underneath. "I am balance, but many call me-"
"…Libra." Mar-Vell interrupted.
"Very impressive," Libra said as his hands inspected Mar-Vell's Skrull features. "They also gave you some form of artificial cosmic awareness."
Mar-Vell was on death's door. He could feel her cold grasp creep onto his body. He did not want to die, not this way. Libra looked upon him as an anomaly, someone that did not belong, but his look revealed knowledge that he did not have. "Who...am I?"
"You are a Skrull named Khn'nr," Libra responded quickly. “An attempt to throw galactic regimes into disarray by your mere presence. Even though it was for a brief time, your presence tipped the scales of hundreds if not thousands of civilizations across the cosmos."
"How...how do you know this?" Mar-Vell asked as his chest began to compress on itself, the weight making it hard for him to speak let alone breathe.
"I know many things, Khn'nr." Libra continued. "What happens after this is up to you."
END
The vessel had seen many of battles. The amount of weaponry contained onboard was enough to ravage a small planet and as it inched through space, the pace of which the vessel traveled did not signal a call to arms, it was more as if they were looking for something; something that the Empire knew was a threat.
"Scanners are showing no signs of Number Ninety-Seven, Commander." The Skrull communication's officer announced.
The vessel's Captain rested in the Command chair, one hand bracing his cleft chin as he was deep in thought. "Keep the sensors on wide scan. We must find him for the sake of the Skrull Empire," The Commander of the space vessel uttered. "I want every parsec scanned, every speck of dust analyzed. We must find him."
The interior lighting switched to a flashing crimson as klaxons raged loudly out of nowhere. All the visual screens on the command bridge switched quickly to one section of space, enlarging the smallest of objects into the threat they had feared – and it was coming their way.
"Commander..." The Skrull navigator turned with wide fear struck eyes. "He has found us!"
The Skrull Commander rose from the Captain's chair, his eyes fixated on the giant vessel's monitor. His green skin seemed to shift in color as the vessel's red warning lights continued to flood the entire ship. The roaring klaxons would have made a loud shout into the faintest of whisper. The Commander knew it and just mumbled what would have been considered a prayer.
"May Kly'bn greet us…"
The Commander was barely able to finish his thought as the giant warship rocked from a deep impact into its hull. Exterior shields rerouted from the puncture attack only to be rocked again and again until its shields dispersed. An energy beam exploded from inside the ship, ripping the exterior hull into pieces causing the Skrull vessel slowed to a halt.
Two neighboring Skrull vessel's opened canon fire onto the now decimated Skrull battleship obliterating what was left of the vessel. Out of the space debris a streak of light exited and rammed into one of the two Skrull destroyers and within a blink, every member of the lone functional ship witnessed their impending doom.
Death had visited the Skrull search party and it was garbed in red and blue with only a symbol of a star upon its chest.
# # # # # # # # # # # # # # #
Baxter Building
For the first time in months, Benjamin Grimm, otherwise known as the Thing, kicked back his massive feet and let out a sigh of relief. His massive girth engulfed the entire sofa and he wanted to just remain there…doing nothing. Being part of the Fantastic Four was always busy, yet their battle and return from the Negative Zone just seemed more exhausting than usual. Maybe it was age creeping in. Maybe it was something altogether different. Either way, at the present moment he had a drink ready for one hand and a lit cigar in another, and no one was going to take that away from him.
"Benjamin Grimm -" a voice rang out of nowhere.
His own name startled him, his reflexes causing his massive hand to graze upon his drink, causing it to fall from the table. "Fer cryin' out loud!"
It was a reflex, an instinct for an unknown voice calling his name in his home, but that fraction of a second extended to an eternity as the falling glass paused before shattering upon the floor. There would be no shards of glass sprayed upon the floor. No crash from two objects coming into contact with each other. Though odd, Benjamin Grimm had seen this event occur many of times.
"Libra!" uttered the Thing, instantly recognizing the source of the voice. “...It's Clobberrin' Time!"
Libra gestured with a free hand to stop, his voice calm as the Thing approached. "I did not come here to fight you, Benjamin Grimm. I come here for your aide. The scales of balance are beginning to tip and you would be of great use to realign that balance."
"Yer lips are flappin' but it isn't registerin', Gustav!"
"I do not need prowess of understanding, Benjamin Grimm. I would have contacted your Reed Richards if I did," Libra clarified. "You provide a certain skill set needed for this event."
Thing looked at Libra cautiously. "You need me to do some bashin'?"
"I need you to follow me."
# # # # # # # # # # # # # # #
Mar-Vell streaked across the black void of space, his distinct energy signature causing a trail of energy trickling through its vacuum. His focus was staunch, his eyes ready for any Skrull ship that had plagued him for weeks, but his cosmic awareness caused the Kree warrior to stop abruptly.
Mar-Vell peered down toward the planet below, his cosmic awareness continuing to rage inside his mind. In a blink, Mar-Vell raced down through the planet's atmosphere, his energy shielding him from the descent. His feet touched down upon its dusty surface, his eyes now gazing upon a string of caves once occupied centuries ago.
"You can come out now!" Mar-Vell shouted, knowing someone or something awaited him.
The Thing merely smirked, his gigantic stone hands pressing his fingers as if he was preparing to use them as he appeared from the cave.
Mar-Vell's eyes widened with rage as he looked upon the Thing's features emerge from the shadows. "I will let you know Skrull, that the form you take now was a person I called friend."
"I was thinkin' the same thing," replied Thing.
Mar-Vell opened with one step toward his opponent as the next one was just a blur of energy as he hyper-accelerated to close the gap which separated him from the Thing. A mixture of Mar-Vell's interstellar speed and enhanced strength was a deadly mix for any who came across such an attack, the Thing being no exception. A strong right cross stunned the Thing. Mar-Vell connected with another blow to the Thing's midsection, as the militaristic mind which Mar-Vell possessed was in full display to the ever loving Thing.
"You sure do hit like Mar-Vell," Thing uttered as he tried to shake the ringing in his head.
"I am Mar-Vell!" The cosmic hero replied, as he strolled toward Thing as if he was enjoying the battle.
"And I'm the ever lovin' Thing," Thing shouted as he crashed a blow into the Kree's face. "How did that feel?"
Mar-Vell could do nothing else but chuckle as he wiped the speck of blood which appeared at the corner of his mouth. "That was good...for a Skrull." The name of the shape-shifting race rolling off Mar-Vell's tongue with a sense of bitterness.
"I ain't no blasted Skrull!" Thing roared as his giant fist came crashing down toward Mar-Vell's head.
Mar-Vell's reflexes were able to evade the blow by the smallest of margins, the energy field which was erected around Mar-Vell's body sparking from the friction of the two surfaces. With just pure instinct, Mar-Vell unleashed a fury of energy from his Nega-bands into the body of the Thing which sent the Thing flying and crashing into a nearby mountain.
Dazed, the Thing was able to see Mar-Vell launch himself toward his position, though it took a second for his mind to register one target rather than two. He could hear his opponent land near him as he looked upward toward the image he once called friend.
"Why is the Skrull Empire hunting me?" Mar-Vell asked coldly, his eyes strong with sincerity.
"You actually have no clue what is going on, huh?" The Thing chuckled.
"Enlighten me," Mar-Vell replied as the Nega-bands placed on both his arms seemingly came to life with charged energy.
"You ain't Mar-Vell."
An annoyed look washed over Mar-Vell's face. "You waste my time, Skrull."
"You ain't -"
"Now you waste my patience -" Mar-Vell said.
Thing's eyes widened as what had appeared in orbit behind Mar-Vell became a bigger concern. A skyscraper sized ship appeared descending down upon the planet’s atmosphere. It quickly darkened what seemed to be the entire planet, or at least as far as the Thing could see. He could feel the surface below his feet rattle, small pebbles shaking off the very ground until they were pulverized into dust.
"I think we are in trouble," Thing uttered.
"It is a Skrull destroyer," Mar-Vell replied. "It is after me. There are dozen more like it in orbit. They have found me and plan to show no mercy to this planet as long as they eliminate me."
"But you are a green skinned Skrull yourself."
Mar-Vell's eyes raged at the comparison. "I...AM...MAR-VELL!"
The ships belly opened numerous ports, energy canons now being easily seen even with a considerable distance separating the two. A salvo of energy blasts rained down upon the planet causing Mar-Vell's scream of acceptance to go on unheard. A large cloud of pulverized planet blanketed the area, only hiding the many craters created from the attack. The debris slowly dispersed to show Mar-Vell’s energy shield erect and intact.
"Are you injured?" Mar-Vell asked, his concentration remaining fixed on maintaining his energy shield that surrounded the two.
"Are you injured?" Thing returned the question, amazed by what this Mar-Vell had just done.
"I am fine. You have to leave," Mar-Vell said as he looked upwards at the descending Skrull armada.
"You can’t survive those many..."
"GO!" Mar-Vell urged as he rocketed skyward.
Benjamin Grimm did not know the man which appeared before him disguised as the Kree Captain Mar-Vell, yet his words and the look in his eyes were almost familiar from days long past.
For the first time that he could remember, the Thing ran. He didn't look back as sparks rained down from the heavens until he was able to get to back to the cave he had first appeared.
"You did very good, Benjamin Grimm," Libra announced from the shadows. He gazed upwardly as Mar-Vell battled a Skrull armada in an awesome display of explosions which lit the sky.
"Good job?" An infuriated Thing shouted as he crashed a punch into the cavern walls. "You said that man was not Mar-Vell."
"He is not."
"He sure did just act like Mar-Vell."
"I can assure you he is not."
"Tell me why I'm supposed to believe you?"
"Goodbye, Benjamin Grimm," said Libra. With a simple tap from Libra upon the chest of the Thing, the next thing Benjamin Grimm knew was that he was back in the Baxter Building.
# # # # # # # # # # # # # # #
The battle was over.
Mar-Vell had won yet he lay motionless as his respirations began to become rapid. He had won the battle, but the injuries he had sustained took their toll upon his now battered body. Moving hurt, and even he had limits. He remained still, not knowing that his Kree pink complexion had shifted to green.
"You really think you are Mar-Vell?" Libra asked, looking down upon Mar-Vell.
"Who..." With labored breathe, liquid pressing onto his lungs Mar-Vell asked. His eyes focused on a shrouded man, only a large visor and his mouth easily seen. "...Who are you?"
Libra simply smirked at the question, pulling back his hood to reveal more of the man underneath. "I am balance, but many call me-"
"…Libra." Mar-Vell interrupted.
"Very impressive," Libra said as his hands inspected Mar-Vell's Skrull features. "They also gave you some form of artificial cosmic awareness."
Mar-Vell was on death's door. He could feel her cold grasp creep onto his body. He did not want to die, not this way. Libra looked upon him as an anomaly, someone that did not belong, but his look revealed knowledge that he did not have. "Who...am I?"
"You are a Skrull named Khn'nr," Libra responded quickly. “An attempt to throw galactic regimes into disarray by your mere presence. Even though it was for a brief time, your presence tipped the scales of hundreds if not thousands of civilizations across the cosmos."
"How...how do you know this?" Mar-Vell asked as his chest began to compress on itself, the weight making it hard for him to speak let alone breathe.
"I know many things, Khn'nr." Libra continued. "What happens after this is up to you."
END