Fury's eye contracted, but his agent instincts steadied him. "James, what are you talking about?"
Natasha and Clint tensed, ready to fight. Adam struggled up, Banner stirred, all staring in shock.
James fired a golden magic beam, hitting Fury's chest. "Argh!" Fury's form twisted, green skin spreading—a Skrull, Talos, revealed, eyes wide with fear.
"Impossible!" Natasha gasped, her weapon clattering.
Adam's pupils shrank. "The S.H.I.E.L.D. director's an alien?"
James approached, voice icy. "You thought I wouldn't know your plan? The Skrulls' secret invasion." He seized Talos's throat, lifting him. "Where's the real Fury?"
Talos choked, "I won't…" A communicator dropped, flaring with Fury's hologram, haggard, in a space pod.
"Stop, James!" Fury barked. "Talos is an ally!"
James sneered. "So you're gallivanting in space while an alien plays you on Earth, building a god squad?"
Carol Danvers appeared beside Fury, blonde hair swaying, eyes warning. "Let him go, James. It's complicated."
James's eyes narrowed. "Mind your own planet, Carol."
His eyes blazed gold. "No!" Fury and Carol shouted, but his heat vision vaporized Talos instantly, leaving ash.
Silence gripped the scene. Fury's hologram paled, Carol's fists clenched. "You don't know what you've done!"
James ignored them. "Turing, trace the signal."
"Locked, sir," Turing replied. "Outer orbit, Kree scout ship turned space station."
James opened a massive golden portal, revealing Fury and Carol's pod. "Let's talk face-to-face."
He stepped through, vanishing. In the mirror dimension, the Avengers exchanged looks.
"What now?" Banner rasped.
Adam, wiping blood, said, "Follow. This is bigger than we thought."
Tony's armor shifted to space mode. "Jarvis, prep."
Wanda's chaos magic flared, shielding her. "I'm going."
Natasha grabbed the communicator, glancing at Clint. "Guess we're going interstellar."
In the station, Fury and Carol faced James warily. Carol glowed with cosmic energy. "You went too far, James. Talos was a friend!"
"Friend? An alien posing as Earth's security chief?" James retorted, floating in zero gravity.
Fury steadied himself. "Talos helped me. Skrulls are refugees, hunted by the Kree. I gave them sanctuary."
"At the cost of infiltrating Earth?" James scoffed.
Carol advanced. "You don't know what the Kree did! Skrulls just want a home."
"I don't care about your galactic grudges," James cut in. "Involving Earth is another matter."
Tony, Wanda, Adam, and the others arrived through the portal. "Whoa, spaceship," Tony whistled. "Jarvis, log this for the next party."
Fury's eye widened. "You all…"
Adam floated beside James, voice firm despite his pallor. "Real Fury, we need answers."
Banner clung to a wall. "So we've been working with a Skrull?"
Natasha's gaze sharpened. "You owe us an explanation, Director."
Fury steadied himself. "Fine. Carol, pull the files."
Carol hesitated, then activated her wrist device, projecting Skrull refugee data and Kree pursuit footage. "Twenty years ago, I met Talos," Fury began. "The Kree were hunting Skrulls galaxy-wide. Carol and I saved their clan."
Tony interrupted, "So you let an alien pose as S.H.I.E.L.D.'s director? That's insane."
"Talos was helping!" Fury snapped. "I needed to build a space defense line. Earth needed a stand-in. Skrulls' shapeshifting was perfect cover."
Tony scoffed. "What if this leaks? How will humans view superhumans?"
James's face was stone. "More importantly, how many institutions and governments have Skrulls infiltrated?"
Fury and Carol paled. "How do you know?" Carol gasped.
James's eyes glowed. "I know more than you think, Captain Marvel."
He faced Fury. "Two choices: reveal all Skrull infiltrations, or I find them and burn them to ash."
The air froze. Fury's eye narrowed, weighing options. He glanced at Carol, then spoke coldly, "James, you're too full of yourself. Earth isn't just humanity's anymore—"
Zzt! James's heat vision pierced Fury's chest. The self-proclaimed guardian stared at the hole, disbelief frozen on his face. "How…" He collapsed.
Carol erupted, cosmic energy blazing. "You killed him?!"
Her blonde hair flared, fists glowing. "You don't know what you're doing!"
James met her gaze calmly. "I know exactly. A traitor who allowed alien invasion deserved it."
"Enough!" Carol roared, smashing through the station's wall into space.
James followed, the two facing off in the void. Tony activated his thrusters. "Jarvis, life support!"
"Sir, space combat risks—"
"Shut up, execute!"
Wanda's chaos magic shielded her and the others. Adam formed an antimatter breathing barrier. They rushed out, watching from a distance.
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