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Emma’s dream:
Emma Frost finds herself on a plane of white nothingness. “I’m not going to make it,” she hears and identifies the words as coming from Kitty Pryde. Kitty? she asks. “I thought you would help me,” the accusing voice continues. Emma wildly looks around, asking Kitty to tell her where she is. “Why did this happen?” the voice asks. Emma in vain calls for her.
Reality:
San Francisco:
Emma lies awake next to her lover, Scott Summers. Unsettled by her dream, she gets up and answers the door. It’s a Thunderbolt agent with a package for her from Norman Osborn. Aloud she wonders why that is the case. He doesn’t know, the agent replies. She knows he doesn’t know, she replies. She wasn’t asking him. She reads the letter and is very surprised.
Some time later, she flies to New York, Avengers Tower, new home of Norman Osborn. The computers welcome her and she is brought to sub-basement nine.
Sitting alone at a table is Doctor Doom. After a moment’s silence, he informs her that no man or woman shall enter the mind of Victor von Doom. He suggests she stop attempting to do so or incur his wrath. Yeah, okay, she replies and sits down at the table, as far as possible from Doom.
A newcomer greets Doom, Namor the Submariner, looking unshaved and worse for the wear. He thought Doom wasn’t going to come. A courtesy, comes the reply. Or curiosity? Namor asks. That as well. It got to him too, Namor admits.
Sitting down next to Emma, he asks who this one is. Doom introduces her as Emma Frost, leader of the X-Men and former White Queen of the Hellfire Club. Oh yes, yes, yes, Namor replies and introduces himself. She knows, Emma, replies frostily. They’ve met. It’s a pleasure to meet her, Namor insists. They’ve met, Emma repeats. Have they? Namors asks. Does he always smell like that? Emma retorts. Namor is quiet.
Doom suddenly announces there is one here who has not revealed himself. He suggests he do so or he will do it for him!
In response, a sturdy man, dressed in a hooded red cloak turns visible right on their table. Who is this? Namor demands. Parker Robbins, the Hood, Emma replies. And how the hell would she know that? the Hood snarls. There’s someone else inside there though, Emma marvels. The Hood points his gun at her and swears and orders her to get out of his head. She does not know who she is messing with. Does he? Emma retorts icily and suddenly against his will the Hood turns his gun against himself, pointing it at his mouth.
Well done, Namor commends Emma. Doom orders them to be still. They are now in the presence of a god.
A lovely brunette in archaic clothes materializes and informs them with a haughty smirk that she is Loki. S/he looks much better than the last time he saw him/her, Namor remarks, spell-bound. She’s pleased Namor finds that new form so appealing, Loki flirts. He didn’t say that, Namor begins to defend himself.
Doom announces he’s coming. Yes, Emma agrees. Thank you for meeting with me, Norman Osborn begins. Okay, it’s a new day, so listen carefully, he tells them. This is how it’s going to be. As they all know, he’s been given the keys to the kingdom. Tony Stark is out. SHIELD is no longer. Osborn is heading a new world peacekeeping task force that includes the Initiative and the Avengers franchises. And, as far as he’s concerned, that is good news for all of them.
They are kings among their people. They are rulers, tried and true. But under the thumb of Tony Stark and Nick Fury before him they were opposed. Working alone, working against the grain. They now find themselves where they find themselves ousted and dethroned. Respectfully. So… let’s do something about that. They’ll tell him what they need, and he’ll do that thing.
And in return? (That is what Doctor Doom was about to ask.) In return, loyalty, camaraderie, brothers in arms. Which, uneasy as that may be for some of them, it has to sound a whole lot better than where they find themselves today. Constantly battling Iron Man and the Fantastic Four. Constantly struggling to retain their monarchy and/or a little slice of land that is rightfully theirs. Constantly struggling to keep that which is their birthright. Constantly struggling to gain this by themselves. And knowing, whether you like it or not, you cannot win.
See… he likes the way the Hood has gone about taking over for the Kingpin. He doesn’t know whether the rest of them know but he’s turned himself into the Kingpin of… of them all actually. Strength in numbers. He likes it. Everyone working together, working to realize everyone’s common goals.
So… Osborn’s stealing his idea? the Hood asks. Good idea’s a good idea, comes the reply. But no, he doesn’t want a piece of him, or any of them. They keep theirs. What he gets in returns is…
…Credit for being the one who has got them under control, Doom points out coldly. Doing that which Fury and Stark could not. Osborn doesn’t reply.
Namor begins that he doesn’t like Osborn and doesn’t trust him. But Namor needs him, Osborn replies unfazed. He’s the new guy in charge. He’s the new Nick Fury. And Atlantis is gone. Namor’s sleeper agents spread over the world. Yes, he knows about the agents. He knows they are out there, and he knows Namor has no plan. He’s a king without a kingdom. So are Doom and Loki.
Okay, the Hood announces with a smirk. But say… when it’s time to pay the Goblin… and they tell Osborn to go @#$% himself, because that is, historically, what they do…
Osborn states he doesn’t see it that way. He sees them all as men and women of honor or he wouldn’t have called that meeting. However, if any of them would sink to their basest instincts… They must know that whatever they had gained from this relationship can easily be taken away. Like that.
Loki laughs amused, but then asks him to continue. Doom remarks he’d like to go back to a point his colleague Namor made about not liking or trusting Osborn. This newfound arrogance of his even to call them here.
Osborn replies he wasn’t done with that point. In such a case as one of them turns on him or each other, in payment for the kindness he has shown them… he has his friends. A door opens and he points towards the shape standing there. Whoever it is, it seems to impress the others.
Osborn asks Emma to look in his head and tell them if he is lying. No, Emma states. Something for even a goddess of mischief to think about, he suggests. He tells them this isn’t about who’s got the biggest or who’s the most badass. But it’s a language he knows they respect and he does speak it. Stark and Fury did it wrong. They should have embraced them all and their causes. They should have worked with them. This is his offer. Everyone gets what they want.
Why is she here? Emma asks. She is not like them? She’s not? Osborn asks mockingly. Since when? She is Emma Frost. White Queen of the Hellfire Club. Leader of the X-Men. She is the spokesperson for a powerful people who are dying out. It’s time to make some bold moves on their behalf or they will be done.
The mutant population is decimated and if they don’t want to be rounded up into Canadian concentration camps (which, by the way, is an idea being proposed right now by those who propose such things), she needs to tap into her own true self and make some tough decisions. And for him, it’s nice to have a psychic on the team. It keeps everyone relatively honest. Except…
He’s sure Doom has guards and magic stuff blocking everything. But that’s okay. He knows what Victor wants. He wants Latveria. And he can have it. As of today, right now, he’s extradited back to his homeland. There’s an argument that says that when Tony Stark arrested Doom, he did so under the influence of a Skrull virus and that means Doom was unlawfully imprisoned and is free to go, pending further international investigation by a world court. See how easy it is? He’s going home… on Norman’s dime. He’s got a better offer than that, take it.
He turns to Namor telling him and Doom to live their lives, feed their people and stay there. They all know that their best moments have been private ones. While their defeats have been very public. He says instead of pushing against that fate, embrace it. Let’s keep their wins private. Let’s keep their victories between them. Let’s do it in a way that works to their strengths.
His guys are in a business, the Hood points out. They ain’t gonna see the upside financially to anything that has to do with Osborn or the Avengers or them, so he’s gonna take a pass. Actually, he’ll tell him what he and his men are gonna do, Osborn replies. He’s gonna register with the Initiative. He’s going legit. Each and every one of them.
He also looks at Emma. Every mutant and crook under their hood. They’re going to sign up and say “I’m with him.” They’ll do so publicly. They’ll publicly reform. He’ll make them Thunderbolts. He’ll make them the Wisconsin Avengers. Whatever they are comfortable with. After that, they keep doing what they do. He’s not even going to ask for a kickback. They’ll keep theirs.
He turns to Loki. But no attacking government facilities. No mischief for the sake of mischief. And when Osborn calls them and tells them to hit something, they hit it. And he promises there isn’t anything he wants hit that they’d have a problem hitting.
And what the hell do they get in return? the Hood asks. Immunity, comes the reply. They get pinched, they walk. And they get to live their lives unpunished. He was… two years ago he was institutionalized. Now he’s in charge of things. He’s saying they get over themselves and the world loves a second chance. He’s offering them a get-out-of-jail-free-card. As long as they don’t kill a puppy on television.
What about the Avengers? the Hood asks. They’ll find out in a week. Tony Stark? Doom asks. Is not going to have a good year, Norma replies. He signed the Tower and the Avengers over to SHIELD, so SHIELD would pay for it. So he lost it. He put the target on his head, he opened the door.
Namor asks about Loki’s opinion. I want Asgard, comes the reply. In the heavens where it doth belong. Then they want the same thing, Norman replies.
Okay, well, he has a lunch. Leave the way they came. They’ll be in touch. Victor will be escorted to a transport ship back to his own country. See it as a goodwill gesture. He’ll be calling them soon. And don’t talk about him behind his back now.
He’s gone and there is a moment’s silence. Then the Hood leaves. So do Emma and Loki. Are they alone? Namor asks Doom. They are comes the reply. What’s the move here? It is as before, Doom replies. Let Osborn set them up. He will soon implode. Then, when all this is over, Namor will get the seas and Doom will get the land. And if Osborn doesn’t? Namor wonders. It’s his nature, Doom replies. He will. But if he doesn’t? Namor again asks. Then they’ll have a battle on the hands the likes of which this dimension has never seen, Doom prophesies.
Later, Osborn returns to Thunderbolts Mountain and orders his men to pack his equipment and send it to Avengers Tower. While he is musing, he is interrupted by the angry Swordsman who curses him. So the Thunderbolts Program, the Swordman asks, all the promises Osborn made? All was just bull! Osborn orders him to calm down. Calm down? Does Osborn think he doesn’t know what’s going on? That he’s already made side deals with half the Thunderbolts team? What about him? What is he? Is he in? He’s not, is he? Get screwed, you piece of §/&§! he tells him.
It’s complicated, Norman replies hesitantly. They are restructuring. They have to reevaluate all the different…
Another outburst from the Swordman. All the work he did for Osborn. He was promised an out! Is he getting it?
Norman is getting nervous. He turns around. He knew it, the Swordman snarls. Well, guess what, Osborn’s not Nick Fury. He’s not even sane! He’s a whack job in a fancy suit! And everyone here knows it.
He’s not going back to prison, he vows, calling Osborn “Goblin.” Osborn orders him to settle down but the Swordsman goes on, threatening he will go public. About what Osborn has done here, about all the &%$§ in his life.
He’s not letting him finish the sentence, Osborn states. He grabs Swordsman by his throat and impales him on his own sword, then he throws him outside into the ocean. He is in charge! Osborn shouts. Him! Him! HIM!
Oh no! he moans a moment later, trying to regain control.
Back in San Francisco, Emma lives through her nightmare once more and awakes screaming… and doubting.


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Provide a full summary of the comic book.

[Assistant]
Untitled
It started with the global broadcast. Then, the East Coast went silent. This was followed by reports of hostilities in Los Angeles and San Diego. For the 800,000 residents of San Francisco, this is reason enough to get out of the city before the inevitable happens.
With traffic backed up all the way across the Golden Gate Bridge, many San Franciscans flee the city on foot. Before long, however, several alien ships emerge from the dense fog surrounding the bay, and blanket the city in an eerie, green light. The Skrulls have arrived in San Francisco.
The Skrull Commander, observing his fleet’s arrival from the Skrull cruiser, orders his dropships to engage and lay down a suppressing fire. Even though San Francisco lacks a significant super hero presence, they will follow proper protocol. “Dropcaptains, be ruthless but not needlessly cruel,” the commander says. “Destruction for destruction’s sake is pointless and distasteful, but make these people understand this isn’t their world…it’s ours.”
The dropships descend on the city and begin removing key threats. After securing their target block, Dropcaptain Ssrov and his ship’s chaplain, the Soul Shepherd, emerges from his ship’s loading bay. The chaplain asks for permission to bless their troops. Ssrov gives his authorization, but adds that it isn’t necessary, as the invasion is in compliance with Dar’dvan prophecy. The Skrull soldiers already qualify as saints. The Soul Shepherd proceeds anyway, offering a prayer that blesses the Skrull Crusade, absolves them all of guilt, and ends with three words soon to be known the whole world over: He loves you.
Nearby, a squad of San Francisco police officers forms a barricade in an attempt to stave off the Skrull invasion. One officer suggests they flee; the Skrulls will surely march right over their resistance! His commanding officer, a blonde woman named Molson, tells him to shut up and shoot. His family’s home is only a fifteen-minute march from their present position. If they do not stand up to the Skrulls, who will?
Despite their valiant defiance, the officers simply cannot compete with the approaching Skrull battalion. A bomber swoops overhead and eliminates the entire line of police cars with one decisive blast, propelling both Molson and her fellow officer through the air. While the injured Molson groans in pain, the defiant officer screams that he told her so, and, in the last moments he has, fires his handgun desperately at the approaching dropship.
Suddenly, a blast of red light splits the dropship in two. Its source, representing San Francisco’s last hope against the extraterrestrial invaders, springs forth from the emerald fog. Cyclops and the X-Men have arrived. “You’ve got your targets,” he tells his team, which consists of Sunspot, Cannonball, Beast, Emma Frost, Colossus, Armor, Prodigy, and Nightcrawler, among others. “Hit them until they stop moving.” A Skrull gunner aboard a dropship pivots his turret and prepares to open fire on the incoming X-Men. Before he can pull the trigger, however, Nightcrawler emerges from a cloud of purple smoke right beside him and knocks him out with a swift punch to the jaw. Teleporting to the deck below, Kurt kicks the ship’s driver in the face, and then teleports to safety before the ship crashes to the ground and erupts in flames.
Nearby, a tank-driving Skrull asks for identification of the superheroes, particularly the three in front of his vehicle: Colossus, Cannonball, and Armor. They only have files on two of them, the Skrull command reports back. Outside the tank, Piotr clenches his fists. “This sight offends me more than I can say,” he says, gritting his teeth. Sam Guthrie channels the big Russian’s anger at the appropriate target. He orders Hisako to follow their lead, and blasts through the tanks while she and Colossus begin ripping the fleet to shreds.
Dropcaptain Ssrov and the rest of the Skrulls finally realize they are dealing with the X-Men. As he and the Soul Shepherd board their ship, Ssrov orders the entire fleet to return to orbit and suppress the resistance with particle cannons. The Soul Shepherd reminds him they still have troops on the ground. These troops will be honored and remembered, Ssrov says as consolation. After the ship begins its takeoff, Dropcaptain Ssrov asks for an altitude update. Six feet, his pilot informs him, even with engines at full thrust. For some reason, the ship isn’t achieving liftoff. They do not see that outside, Colossus and Armor both hold onto one end of the ship, while Cannonball forces it toward the ground. With the getaway averted, Cyclops destroys the loading door with an optic blast and boards with the X-Men.
Armor, Cannonball, Colossus and Nightcrawler stand behind Cyclops while he orders the  Skrulls to surrender. The Soul Shepherd, however, raises his hand in resistance. “Stay, human. You speak without understanding, or respect,” he says, cradling a hazy, purple orb in his other hand. “The unborn one extends his blessing to you, human, and you should kneel and give thanks. The history you speak of – it begins, for your world, today.” After reminding the Skrulls they are not mere humans, but X-Men, Cyclops orders the Soul Shepherd to explain himself. He introduces himself as Sar T’llrk, the Soul Shepherd. He begins to order Cyclops to kneel and kiss the feet of the Skrull Holy Warriors, but Cyclops interrupts him with an optic blast to the face.
“I want these computers stripped to the bare wires,” Scott says after turning away from the fallen Skrull chaplain. He asks Emma to send in Beast and Prodigy. While the X-Men get to work investigating the ship, Nightcrawler’s attention is drawn to the smoky orb that lay beside its unconscious keeper. He slinks over toward the mysterious object, picks it up, and gazes into it, his face wrought with determined curiosity.
The Skrull command aboard the cruiser assesses the events below as they unfold. The Commander asks if when the thought-wall will be activated. Ten spans, his advisor informs him. The Commander turns and looks once more at the chaos below. “This is just a setback,” he says.
Meanwhile, aboard the commandeered Skrull dropship, Hank McCoy and David Alleyne scramble to decipher the alien coding of the ship’s computer. The physical interface is designed for use by shapeshifters, though, stalling their progress. Hank asks for a few more minutes. Cyclops orders them to narrow their search and gives them five minutes before they must abandon the project, while behind him, the entranced Nightcrawler looks deeper and deeper into the orb’s core. Greetings, seeker, the orb says into Kurt’s mind. He gasps, staring at it with wide-eyes full of wonder. The orb continues. Meditate on me, and you will find what you seek.
“Kurt.” Cyclops’s voice interrupts Nightcrawler’s trance. He turns away from the orb and responds to Scott, who orders him to head outside and guard the ship’s exterior. Nightcrawler complies, teleporting outside in a puff of purple smoke. He takes the sphere with him.
Emma Frost, battling a Skrull battalion with Mercury and X-23, relays orders from Cyclops to the rest of the X-Men. She is happy to report that, thus far, they have sustained zero casualties. Anole and the Stepford Cuckoos are busy evacuating the San Francisco hospital, she tells him, but Angel and Rockslide are pinned down by a railgun in Union Square. After ordering Pixie’s team to take the railgun out, Scott asks Emma to request more fog cover from Iceman. Their plan of severing the Skrull cruiser’s visual contact has worked well so far. However, the Skrulls fight back with a different kind of interference. As Scott continues speaking to Emma, his words stop making sense and quickly become gibberish. Emma winces at the psychic intrusion in her mind. Dust tries to support her teacher as she stumbles to the ground, but there is nothing she can do. Emma wipes her face, and after pulling her hand away, sees it is completely covered in blood. Elsewhere, the psychic static disrupts the minds of the Cuckoos.
With their thought-wall in effect, the Skrulls initiate the next phase of their attack. They fire their cannons at key locations in the city, and from each impact crater emerges a hulking, menacing Skrull.
While the barrage of cannon-fire reverberates in the background, Nightcrawler, sitting cross-legged on top of the captive Skrull ship, gazes longingly into the Soul Shepherd’s orb. Meditate, it tells him. Kurt tells it to shut up, but the orb once more tells him to meditate upon it to learn the truth. Neigen sich, Kurt Wagner, it says. He stares at it, even further perplexed by its use of his native German. Beugen sie sich vor der wahreit. And be exalted beyond what your mind can imagine! He accuses the orb of trying to hypnotize him, but the orb insists Kurt’s will is entirely his own. Then what is it you want from me, he asks? My function is to save your soul, it says. To equip you with the truth that will lead you into righteousness and make you—
A Skrull missile strikes the area next to the ship, knocking Kurt and his orb to the ground. The Skrulls have finally captured his attention. He picks himself up and crawls to the orb. You tricked me, he says. No. My concern is your soul, Kurt Wagner, as I said. But they – the warriors – they have a very different task. Kurt lifts his head from the orb once more, this time locking eyes with three angry Super Skrulls emerging from the green smoke of their craters.
Aboard the Skrull cruiser, the fleet advisor continues to give his commander updates. The Super Skrulls have successfully engaged their targets. With the situation finally settling down, the commander asks his advisor Dzirot a direct question: who provided the intel on this city? Dzirot responds it was his own team, and he promises to punish them accordingly. The commander robs him of that chance. He pulls out a pistol and fires a round into his advisor’s brain. After Dzirot’s body falls to the floor, he orders his other subordinates to drop it out of the airlock. The Skrulls are now engaged in a Holy War, he reminds them. Only the best fit – the bravest, strongest, and most virtuous – are fit to partake in such a crusade. The weak, he says, will go to the wall.


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Provide a full summary of the comic book.

[Assistant]
Untitled
Lasset uns beten, Kurt Wagner, the Skrull orb says to Kurt. He denies it, but the voice urges him to find the true path before he dies. As he is currently being strangled by a Super Skrull, Kurt’s death might be closer than he realizes.
Cyclops appears and knocks down two of the Super Skrulls with a perfectly ricocheted optic blast. He orders Kurt to flee. Kurt complies, teleporting far up into the sky. Two Super Skrulls with the same capabilities follow him, however, and upon appearing, pierce his shoulder with an energy blast.
Down below, Colossus, Cannonball, Cyclops and Beast battle the six Super Skrulls who stayed behind. Beast assesses the situation and realizes the tide of battle has turned against them. Cyclops tells him to hold his ground while he calls Emma for backup. Because the Skrulls have disabled all telepathy, however, Scott has to call her the old-fashioned way. As a Super Skrull dives on top of him, he opens his visor to full power and shoots a beam high into the sky.
Upon seeing Scott’s signal from across town, Emma Frost orders Pixie and Dust to extract their besieged teammates. Pixie, using her teleportation spell, completes this task with haste.
Later, aboard the Skrull Dreadnought, the Skrulls plan their next move. With the beachhead established and the resistance crushed, it seems to Skrull Lieutenant Jash they have won the battle for San Francisco. His commander disagrees. The X-Men may have fled and taken their wounded, but they will not stop fighting. Instead, they will oppose the Skrull occupation with everything they have. How, then, should the Skrulls respond, Commander H’Kurrek asks? Lieutenant answers with a reasonable plan: continue monitoring the perimeter, while using search-drones to seek out carriers of the X-gene. Commander H’Kurrek commends this suggestion, adding they will also reinforce their thought wall. “Divide and conquer, Jash,” the commander says. “Seed the Earth with mines and the sky with eyes.” He turns and faces his lieutenant for emphasis. “And let them come to us. As they always do.”
Meanwhile, the X-Men regroup at their base so Scott can outline their plan of attack. The Skrulls have blocked or destroyed all methods of leaving San Francisco. Additionally, they have established an unbreakable blackout in the city’s communication network, which includes phones, radios, and internet access. Worse, Emma adds, is the psychic thought-wall the Skrulls established, which makes projecting or reading thoughts painfully impossible beyond a range of ten feet.
Hope, however, still exists. Scott brings up some photographs taken by Beast and Anole of the Skrull mother-ship. This ship is their ultimate target, he says, but they will not attack it until they know they can win. In the meantime, while they gather the proper intel, the rest of the X-Men are to engage the Skrulls in hit-and-run, guerrilla warfare. They will attack them all over town and keep them busy until the X-Men are ready to strike the mother-ship. Everyone’s a part of this, Scott says to the room of X-Men. “This is war, people. Let’s be clear about that. And like it or not, we’re on the front line. But we’re better equipped for that than most people are. As mutants, we’ve been fighting since they day we were born. We know the odd, and they’ve never been on our side.”
Surprisingly, several of the X-Men stare back at their leader with disaffected glares. Cyclops continues. He sees them looking at each other distrustfully, and orders them to stop it. The X-Men work well together because they trust each other; the moment they withdraw that trust, the Skrulls win. Besides, he adds, the Skrulls did not expect to encounter the X-Men in San Francisco. They would have known that bit of information if they had a sleeper agent amongst the X-Men, and certainly would have fought this battle much differently. “So we win or lose together. And in case there’s any doubt on that score,” Cyclops says, “we’re going to win.”
As the team shuffles out of the briefing room, Surge quips that she doesn’t remember joining the Army. One of her teammates asks her to quit, then. “Uhh-- no, I’m good,” Nori says.
Beast approaches Cyclops and asks how he plans to deal with the Super Skrulls. By avoiding them for now, Scott responds. He tells Hank they will need some sort of Skrull doomsday device for their raid on the mother-ship, and as the resident scientist, it is Hank’s job to come up with something. What kind of something, Hank asks? Scott sets no boundaries, and suggests Hank do the same. Hank requests a Skrull tissue sample, to which Scott replies he will see what he can do.
Emma interrupts with some good news. Before she went psi-blind, she sent out a telepathic APB, and a few of their friends responded: Dazzler, Northstar, Aurora, and Husk. Good, Scott says. Emma reminds him they may not be who they say they are. Scott restates his logic from earlier: if the Skrulls were well-prepared enough to infiltrate the X-Men’s ranks, why would they not just bomb them? He switches topics and tells Emma he has an assignment for her and the Stepford Cuckoos. “We’re psi-blind, remember?” Emma says, rolling her eyes. Scott knows this, of course. That is why he needs their help.
After the briefing, Nightcrawler sneaks away to his room. He shuts the door and he produces the Skrull orb he commandeered from the Soul Shepherd. Once more, it speaks to him, this time asking if he knows what a parable is. A story, Kurt replies. The orb corrects him: A lie that is truer than truth, it says. Kurt accuses the orb of being some sort of Skrull iPod; he is only talking to it because of the chance it might contain some important information. You’re wrong, the orb says. It claims to be a sacred text, like Kurt’s Bible, only fitted with a mind-amp interface so it can assist in meditation. I will tell you a parable, it says, by way of illustration.
The orb tells a tale of two brothers from the Skrull homeworld. Their names were Brona and Skeld, and they were farmers in the valley of the Esul. While usually quite prosperous, one season their crops were stricken by a drought. Brona prayed to the mountain to cast its long shadow over his crops and protect him from the sunlight. Skeld, meanwhile, prayed to the river, that it rise and flood the valley floor. Skeld’s prayer was answered; the river rose, but the mountain remained where it was. Brona begged his brother to share his crops, but Skeld refused, prompting Brona to try to take it by force. In the ensuing conflict, Skeld killed his brother. For the river is many things, and the mountain is one, the orb says. And that which changes is forever holy.
“That was a parable?” Kurt sneers. Indeed it was, the orb responds. If Kurt considers it, he may find a deeper truth. After all, did he not kill his brother, just as Skeld did? Kurt is stunned to hear this. “My – you mean Stefan Szardos?” Before the orb can answer him, Hisako enters and tells Kurt the team is about to depart.
Stationed at the Golden Gate Bridge, Skrull Mobile Pacification Unit 3 orders the crowd of civilians trying to flee the city to go home. Disperse or be punished, the Skrull says. A wiseguy in the audience asks if they can disperse and be punished. What if they want both, he asks? The Skrull puts his gun in the young man’s face and asks if he wants to die instead. “Not necessarily,” the young man says. “I just feel we should know what all the options are.” He puts his hand on the Skrull’s rifle and creates an impenetrable ice barrier on its barrel just as the Skrull pulls the trigger. The gun backfires, explodes, and knocks the Skrull to the ground. Bobby Drake ices up just as Jean-Paul and Jeanne-Marie Beaubier, the mutant twins Northstar and Aurora, arrive. Iceman tells them to take care of the large Skrull cannon pointing in their direction. The twins join hands and blast the cannon to smithereens.
Aboard the Skrull mother-ship, the commander receives incoming updates. Three of the Skrull guard posts have just been attacked, almost simultaneously. The commander concludes the X-Men must be using teleporters. He asks for a list of all active mutants who possess that capability. Ch’rith, his intel provider, begins naming the twelve known teleporting mutants, but Commander H’Kurrek stops her. Recalibrate the search-drones on those mutant signatures, he says. As long as the X-Men use their current strategy, he trusts the Skrull army will emerge victorious.
A squad consisting of Nightcrawler, Armor, and Rockslide teleports to one Skrull post and quickly eliminates it. Pixie, Angel, and Husk, meanwhile, teleport to another post and destroy a Skrull tank. Warren asks Paige how her love-life has been. Not sure, she replies, before suggesting they head back to base and find out. Elsewhere, Kurt teleports yet another team, this one consisting of Cannonball, Surge, and himself, to a strategic Skrull position in an alley. Cannonball takes to the skies while Surge tries to blast ships out of the air with her electrical pulses. Kurt, however, slips away and continues his conversation with the Skrull sphere.
Why did Stefan ask you to kill him, it asks? Was it because he feared he would change? Be corrupted? The voice explains that change is nothing to fear. Change is holy. It is stagnation that begets evil. Surely the mutants, mankind’s agents of transformation, understand this, the voice says. Kurt listens in bewilderment. “We’re nothing like you!” he says aloud. “We don’t--”
Cannonball and Surge abruptly return and tell Kurt they need to leave; the Skrulls are coming right behind them! Sam asks who Kurt was talking to, but Kurt snaps and insists he was not talking at all. He grabs them and the three mutants teleport to safety.
Elsewhere, Pixie, Dust and Mercury arrive on at the crest of one of San Francisco’s many hills. Dust and Mercury depart and tell Pixie to wait for their signal. She waves goodbye and offers a half-hearted cheer, while overhead, a covert Skrull camera monitor’s Pixie’s position. Commander H’Kurrek watches the live feed from the Skrull mother-ship, and tells his crew that the subject, Megan Gwynn, interests him. They are to have her body dissected after capture.
Meanwhile, in the Cerebra chamber, Emma Frost and the Stepford Cuckoos outfit themselves with Cerebra’s headgear. Emma asks them to repeat their plan of action, from the top. Using Cerebra’s link, they are to channel their power into Emma while she tries to pinpoint the source of the Skrull thought wall. If Emma’s brain begins to hemorrhage, they are to pull the plug. However, the Cuckoos doubt the plan will work; if Emma does make contact, she will certainly hit one of the Skrull’s firewalls. “Only if they identify me as an intruder, Phoebe. I’m going to try to match frequencies so they think I’m one of their own. But assuming I should fail,” Emma says as she slides on her helmet, “please don’t fight over my new summer wardrobe.”
Pixie, sitting expectantly on the curb, plugs her nose as soon as she hears Nightcrawler’s familiar brimstone BAMF! She tells him to hang an air-freshener on his ear or something, but as she turns around, she doesn’t see Nightcrawler, but a Super Skrull. It shoots at her with an optic blast, knocking her to the ground. She tries to recite her teleportation spell but stumbles over her words. Things look grim for Pixie. However, a threatening voice from behind signals the arrival of Warpath, Wolfsbane, X-23, who immediately begin their orchestrated attack on the Super Skrull.
Back in Cerebra, Emma tells the girls she has broken through the Skrull’s psi-shield. She begins to wince in pain, however, and the girls watch helplessly as Emma falls unconscious. Her vital signs flat-line. She slumps over, dead. “Oh my god, her brain’s not functioning. Who’s going to tell Mister Summers?” one of the Cuckoos says. I will, says another. “What about the dresses?” asks the third.
After a brief battle with X-Force, the Super Skrull falls victim to Warpath’s hunting knives. Wolfsbane commends Pixie on her excellent performance as their decoy. “You’re welcome,” Pixie says. She then notices the new addition to their team. “Who’s the metal-wing guy? He new?” she asks, gesturing toward Archangel. Warpath thanks her again, deliberately avoiding the question.
Back in the X-Men’s laboratory, Beast focuses his attention on some test tubes. A sudden thump on the table breaks his concentration and causes him to drop his samples. He turns, and sees the dead Super Skrull sprawled out on his workstation. Cyclops and Warpath stand over it. Here is your tissue sample, Cyclops says. “Over to you, Hank.”


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Untitled
The Thought-Wall…
The Skrull telepaths, monitoring the psychic barrier known as their Thought-Wall, sense an outsider. They pinpoint the source and learn it is Emma Frost, the mutant member of the X-Men and one of the very same people against whom the Wall was built to protect. Emma has touched the weave, and is now its prisoner. She may know where the X-Men are located, the Skrulls say. They examine her mind even further, eliciting an agonized scream.
Outside the Thought-Wall…
Scott Summers crouches over Emma’s dead body. He demands to know why the Stepford Cuckoos broke their link with Cerebra. Because she’s dead, they say. Scott is not stupid; he can read the displays. That doesn’t mean the Cuckoos are absolved of responsibility. They are capable of keeping Emma’s involuntary body functions operating, and he orders them to force her organs to keep working. For how long, they ask? Until he tells them to stop, he answers. The girls realize they may be there for a while.
The Thought-Wall…
Even against a barrage of psychic attacks, Emma Frost manages to hold her own. The Skrulls urge her to relent; her connection to her body was severed the instant she touched the Thought-Wall, essentially killing her. “Well, we all have our crosses to bear,” she tells them. After offering her a perfunctory “He loves you,” the Skrull telepaths ask her where they might find the X-Men. In exchange for her cooperation, they offer her a permanent place in the Thought-Wall. This would give her purpose and salvation. Emma constructs an impenetrable bubble around herself in response. Pity, the Skrulls say; after all, she would have added an exciting new texture to their weave.
Elsewhere…
Cannonball, Nightcrawler, and Iceman confront a squad of armed Skrulls in the plaza of a shopping mall. As he blasts into the center of the invaders, Sam gives them a hard time for occupying the women’s clothing section of that particular store. Maybe they’re a squad of Skrull transvestites, Iceman ponders, before immediately wiping that image from his mind. Nightcrawler grabs onto a Skrull and teleports him around the room, exhausting both of them. Cannonball asks the visibly wiped-out Kurt if he is okay. Kurt assures him he is fine. Teleporting another person is always a strain; it’s a good thing he is pacing himself. Sam nods in approval. They have a lot of work to do, after all.
The Thought-Wall…
The Skrulls consider Emma’s presence a distraction, and her defiance a provocation. They decide to penetrate her mental sphere; she will not be allowed to hide her thoughts any longer. They elongate their astral necks and take turns breaking through the orb. Although Emma’s defenses are formidable, they will not avail her forever, they say. The Thought-Wall is mighty, and many. She is one and weak.
The first Skrull breaks though and roars at the defensive Emma Frost. Did she think she could hide from them in their very domain, it asks? No, Emma says; she only wanted to spread them out a little. After all, the easiest way to dismantle a wall is one brick at a time. With a flip of her wrist, she destroys the Skrull’s mind. It melts into a puddle of blood which drips through her fingers. With it dead, she turns to the other invaders, ready for the challenge of destroying them too.
Outside the Thought-Wall…
Emma’s life signs return. Her heart begins beating, her lungs inflate with air, and her brain activity returns. She finally opens her eyes and breathes a sigh of relief. “You died for a moment,” Scott tells her.
“Did I?” Emma asks. “How very Jean Grey of me. I’ll try not to do it again.” The Cuckoos are elated to report that Emma successfully dismantled the psi-blockade. They can now contact the rest of the team telepathically! Immediately, Emma detects concern coming from Anole, who is currently fighting the Skrulls in the field. He has seen something disconcerting. Emma says it could be bad.
Elsewhere…
Anole, meeting with his fellow X-Men on a rooftop, reports some disturbing findings. Although he failed to find the vehicle hangars that incited his recon mission, he did witness something else much more alarming: the Skrulls are rounding up civilians. Hundreds of civilians. They are even taking people out of their homes. The rest of the team had better check it out, he says.
Cannonball, currently leading a small squad of X-Men, decides they should investigate. He orders Nightcrawler to stay behind and help Angel’s team once they complete their mission. As soon as Cannonball leaves with his team, however, the enigmatic Skrull orb in Kurt’s possession begins speaking to him once more. He tells it to shut up, but it continues to speak. They are all alone, it says, except for the presence of the one who keeps watch and enfolds them in His love. Kurt holds the orb out in his hand and tells it he isn’t listening. Your heart and your soul hear me, it replies. That will suffice.
The nation that judges thee, He will cause to be judged, the Skrull Orb says as it presents Nightcrawler with a prophetic vision of his future. In this vision, Kurt stands on a balcony with his comrade Cyclops, overlooking a lengthy procession of prisoners. At the edges of the procession stand armored soldiers bearing shotguns. The prisoners, wearing robes resembling those of the mutant-hating Purifiers, walk with their arms shackled. Angel flies over their heads. Nightcrawler smiles.
He fathered thee, and He tenders thee dearly, the voice says to him. For that which changes is holy. He will make thee a prince of this world, and raise thee above thine enemies. Their flesh will be broken and their spirit tormented. But the mutants and the Skrulls – His children – will be exalted over all others.
Nightcrawler breaks away from the prophecy and clutches his temples. He prays to his god, hoping to block out the temptations of the Skrull Orb.
Elsewhere…
Cannonball, Dazzler, Pixie, Colossus, Iceman and Graymalkin follow Anole to a rooftop overlooking a procession of human prisoners shuffling through the city streets. They number well over the couple-hundred Anole mentioned. The Skrulls have gathered more people in the meantime, Victor says. They must be taking everyone they can find.
Although they need to report this to Cyclops immediately, the team wants to monitor the situation as it unfolds. Iceman asks Anole to remain behind and find out where the humans are going. Victor hops over the edge of the building and immediately begins camouflaging into the background. They rendezvous in twenty minutes.
Beast’s lab…
While the rest of the X-Men tackle the Skrull invasion directly, Hank McCoy busily works on a more sinister, back-door approach to defeating the alien armada. His research begins with the dissection of a Skrull corpses provided by Cyclops and X-Force. He determines that although the Skrulls respire oxygen, they do so using a compound other than hemoglobin. Apparently they synthesize hydrogen peroxide and break it into oxygen and water. Even more curious is their cell morphology. This particular Skrull specimen contains an extraordinarily high amount of variation between its cells. Hank concludes the cells of a living Skrull must be in a constant state of flux, due to the constant breaking down and reassembly of the amino acids that constitute proteins. That’s probably how their shape-changing works, he thinks. However, with the correct inhibitor, it might be possible to block this mechanism. “It would only take a couple of years,” he says as he clenches the bridge of his nose in frustration. “Three, tops.”
The streets…
Hovering above the San Francisco skyline, the Skrull Mothership overlooks the culling in the streets. The herded masses below, following the orders of the Skrulls, amble listlessly towards their unknown destination. As they march by the Skrull Shepherd, he blesses them and implores them to accept the grace of his god. The soldiers herd the people into the nearby skyscrapers. They want the people dispersed equally between the buildings, with the excess going to the roof. It’s all right, a woman tells her crying children. The Skrulls only want to count them!
As soon as all the humans are securely inside, the Skrulls order the entryways sealed. No one is to enter or leave. Anole, camouflaged and observing this process in secret, is suddenly and accidently discovered by one of the Skrull guards. Crap, he says. He slugs the guard in the stomach with his oversized arm. As the rest of the squad turns on him, he flees, barely evading their gunfire. Instead of chasing him on foot, the Skrulls deploy one of their bipedal battle units to neutralize him. Anole careens down a steep San Francisco hill, ducking and weaving out of the way of the blasts.
Up above, Colossus stands observing his comrade coming under fire. After a quick running start he leaps off the rooftop and crashes headlong into the Skrull walker. It is instantly destroyed. Upon emerging from the fiery wreckage unscathed, he turns to Anole, and reminds him he missed the rendezvous. Did he lose track of time?
Beast’s lab…
Dr. McCoy’s latest findings do nothing to further his pursuits. Not only does the Skrull physiology nullify the threat of poisons by incorporating them into the body, but radiation, even at lethal doses for humans, simply accelerates the intracellular exchange always occurring in Skrull cells. No doomsday weapon imaginable by human standards will even touch these creatures. What if they’re truly as perfect as they seem, Hank wonders?
With his signature BAMF and accompanying cloud of sulfurous, purple smoke, Nightcrawler teleports into the laboratory in search of Beast’s advice. The busy doctor informs him he has time only to discuss matters related to Skrulls. “It is about Skrulls, Mein freund,” Kurt says. Besides, he would not trouble Hank were he not desperate. He presents to Hank the wispy Skrull relic. He believes it is some sort of Skrull artificial intelligence, although it refers to itself as a sacred text. Hank stops him and asks about his choice of words: calls itself? “It talks to the user telepathically,” Kurt says. “And now I can’t make it stop.”
After Nightcrawler sets the orb on his workbench, Hank scrutinizes it under a microscope, revealing several impurities within its crystalline structure. Perhaps the information it carries is stored in displaced molecules. What kinds of things does it say, he asks Kurt? Kurt informs him it tries to convert him to the Skrull religion and coerce him into accepting the love of their god. It also keeps insisting mutants and Skrulls are cousins, and therefore belong on the same side. Hank asks why. It has something to do with the concept of change, Kurt tells him. The orb repeatedly says “that which changes is holy,” and mutants represent a deviation from the standard Homo sapien template.
Suddenly, Hank understands. “Skrulls change shape as easily as we change our socks,” he says aloud as he lurches out of his seat. “Oh no. No no no. It couldn’t be that obvious, could it?” After Nightcrawler asks what he means, Hank tells him they have found their ace in the hole. Scott wanted a secret weapon, and he may just have found it.
He explains his revelation in full. Skrulls cells are similar to humans, except they are constantly mutating, a feature which grants them access to new super powers all the time. In a way, each Skrull gene is like the X-gene that makes mutants distinct from humans. With this in mind, the solution is unbelievably simple. But is it right? Hank hesitates. Are they truly ready to open this Pandora ’s Box again, considering the cost of closing it last time?
The Skrull Mothership…
The humans are in place, Skrull Lieutenant Jash informs Commander H’Kurrek. The commander thanks him and orders the weapons control transferred to his station before posing a question: what honor is there in killing an unarmed man or woman? That depends, his lieutenant answers. H’Kurrek asks upon what it depends. It depends upon what is accomplished by that death, Jash answers. Honor, after all, is measured in terms of victories.
The commander commends his answer, telling him he sounds like a true son of the empire. He then poses another question: what will be accomplished by these deaths? Jash is unsure, but believes the slaughter of these innocent humans may pacify the rest of the population. Good guess, but incorrect, the commander tells him. Their primary problem is the X-Men and their current guerilla tactics. If they want to win, they need to make the X-Men fight and die on the terms of the Skrull. As he speaks, their Mothership hovers ominously over the tall buildings below packed with innocent civilians. Commander H’Kurrek thinks this method will most practically draw out the X-Men.
The X-Men Headquarters…
Cannonball is shocked to hear the latest developments from the field. Did the Skrulls really seal the civilians into those buildings? If so, the internment is something other than a temporary measure. What could it be? Husk guesses the Skrulls may just want people off the streets, but Cyclops reminds her they could have accomplished that with a simple curfew. He asks Prodigy about the activity of the Mothership. It’s hovering right above the city, he answers. Scott doesn’t like it. He wants the ship destroyed. Angel asks how they are supposed to accomplish that. The ship is packed with Super-Skrulls and they have nothing to use against it.
“Yes we do,” Hank says, entering the conference room unnoticed. “We’ve got this.” He opens the sturdy metal container he carries and shows it to Scott, who congratulates him on finding a solution. Hank corrects him; he didn’t find anything. Not understanding, Cyclops asks if the weapon will work against the Super-Skrulls. “It will work against all the Skrulls,” Beast answers. “It won’t discriminate. And it won’t stop. Once we unleash this, there’s no going back.” He reveals to the X-Men that the weapon is Stryfe’s Legacy Virus. Although it was designed to kill mutants, it works against Skrull physiology as well. He turns to the leader of the X-Men and asks the critical question: how comfortable is he with genocide?


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Untitled
Ard’ran, a telepathic Fourth-Rank Skrull Engineer, reports to Commander H’Kurrek for duty. He comments on why she never joined the Thought-Wall; her powers are somewhat diluted, a result of her mother marrying outside of her sect. Nevertheless, H’Kurrek needs her help now. He orders her to transmit a message to the X-Men, which he begins dictating immediately.
The X-Men hear the Skrull commander’s message loud and clear. H’Kurrek notifies them of the fifty thousand human civilians he has gathered inside of the city’s skyscrapers. The X-Men knows he speaks truth; they have seen the culling themselves. The Skrull flagship, conveniently guarded by their most powerful Super-Skrulls, has its guns centered on these buildings and awaits his orders to fire. Because they X-Men do not know which buildings he intends to strike first, and because the Skrulls control a multitude of cannons, they have no conceivable way of saving every captive’s life. At best, they could stop one, maybe two cannons. Skrull Commander H’Kurrek orders the X-Men to surrender. They have ten minutes.
The message ends. Cyclops immediately asks Prodigy for the location of the internment buildings. David confirms their locations are too scattered; he doesn’t think they could defend all of them. Angel suggests they teleport the humans out of there, using Nightcrawler and Pixie’s abilities. That would take hours, Emma says. Cyclops agrees, adding their movements would be detected; H’Kurrek would surely open fire. Cannonball proposes spiking the cannons. He and Magma and Sunspot could easily do it. However, Iceman reminds him they would only stop a few from firing; the rest would hit their targets.
With their rescue options exhausted, Emma asks whether or not H’Kurrek will actually keep his word should they surrender. Scott reminds her that H’Kurrek gave no word. He never actually promised not to kill the hostages. Besides, Scott refuses to pin his hopes on the mercy of a religious fanatic, especially not when the team has another available course of action. Beast, standing nearby, hangs his head. He asks Cyclops for a word.
Surely he doesn’t intend to use the Legacy Virus, Hank says. Besides, there is something Cyclops needs to know before accepting that option. Scott doesn’t understand; Hank has tested the virus already. Won’t it work, he asks? “Like wildfire,” Hank answers. Because of the continuous cellular mutation of Skrull physiology, the virus should affect them in mere minutes. “It will kill every Skrull in this fleet – for starters,” Hank adds.
Cyclops reminds his teammate of what H’Kurrek has pledged to do. By taking TENS of thousands innocent civilians hostage, he has changed the rules of engagement. He’s made the X-Men’s choice for them. Not so, Hank says. They must make the choice themselves, and live with its consequences. “I’ll live with it,” Cyclops says.
“I said we,” Hank says. “I need to live with it too…and since we’re talking about consequences – isn’t there something else you want to ask me, Scott?”
Inside the buildings…
The panicked civilians wait in anticipation. One woman notes there are children with them in these buildings; surely the Skrulls wouldn’t hurt children! A jaded man reminds her the Skrulls will do whatever they feel. They are running the show right now. However, he is confident the X-Men will stop them. Another man interrupts. The X-Men, he asks? Muties? The X-Men are probably collaborating with the Skrulls, he suggests. However, another frightened civilian stands up for the heroes. He saw them take down a Skrull ship at Fisherman’s Wharf, even comparing it to a miracle “Yeah?” the cynical man asks. “Well we need a bigger one now.”
X-Men Headquarters…
Cyclops, speaking to the X-Men, reminds them that in wartime, one must often do deplorable things. This is one of those times. The buildings, he says, will not fall; they will not let them. Because they cannot win in a direct fight, they have no options other than the one he has prepared. The way he sees it, it’s this, or nothing. However, he does not intend to make this choice for any of his teammates. If any of them have any doubts about what the X-Men are about to do, they can step aside.
No one moves. With that out of the way, Cyclops orders them to get into their teams and get moving. They have only a minute and a half to spare.
The Skrull flagship…
The Skrull countdown approaches its final twenty seconds. The X-Men, however, have yet to respond. H’Kurrek orders Lieutenant Jash to ready the guns. He wants the targets allocated randomly, so the X-Men will have no pattern to read from the minds of the operators. Just as Ard’ran transmits this order, she picks up multiple teleportation signatures on the ground beneath the ship. The commander realizes it may be an attack, but also realizes the X-Men know they would die were they to do something so reckless. He orders his guns to hold fire until they see what the X-Men intend to do.
Below…
Nightcrawler, with Colossus, Cyclops, and Iceman in tow, teleports to a squad of Skrulls, and the four X-Men approach peacefully. The squad leader immediately recognizes Cyclops, and reminds him of the order to surrender. Scott complies, raising his hands. “Now get your ships away from those civilians,” he says.
Nearby, Rockslide, Warpath, Angel, and Mercury surrender to another group of Skrulls.
Elsewhere, Magma, the Stepford Cuckoos, and X-23 turn themselves in. The Skrulls order them to drop their weapons; Magma says that isn’t quite so easy for some of them.
Meanwhile, the Skrulls place a pair of shackles on Nightcrawler. The know how to deal with teleporters, the Skrulls say. The shackles contain a psionic scrambler. Should he attempt to teleport, he will leave behind half of his body mass.
The Skrull flagship…
Ard’ran informs her commander of the X-Men’s surrender. They have offered no resistance, and have presented themselves at various points all over the city. Commander H’Kurrek understands why they chose this tactic; the Skrulls cannot track them back to their base this way. Not that it matters at this point, as the Skrulls have won. H’Kurrek demands Cyclops be brought to him immediately.
Below…
While the anxious civilians watch from their internment points, several Skrull dropships descend to the city below and begin extracting the X-Men. One particularly large Skrull scoffs at the apparent cowardice of the X-Men. He thought they would opt to die in battle, like true men of faith. Nightcrawler, his hands cuffed behind his back, looks up at the imposing Skrull and offers an anecdote. He begins explaining the story of Job, a man whose faith God tested by taking away all he held dear, but the Skrull hits Kurt with a powerful uppercut.
Iceman and Colossus immediately prepare to hit the Skrull back, but Cyclops, orders them to stand down. He walks over to Kurt and helps him off the ground. As Kurt stands, the imposing Skrull returns, puts his finger in his face, and says that if suffering is truly a test of faith, then Nightcrawler should be thanking him.
“We can swap Bible stories later, Skrull,” Cyclops says. “I think your commander mentioned a deadline.” With that, the dropship takes the captured X-Men back to their commander. After docking, they march Cyclops off the ship and immediately present him to Commander H’Kurrek. Ever the humble victor, H’Kurrek congratulates Cyclops on the expert guerrilla war he waged; the X-Men managed to hold off an overwhelmingly superior military force for much longer than thought possible. They meet as brothers and equals, H’Kurrek says. “We do? Funny. I do have a brother who’s a rabid, murderous psychopath,” Scott says. “But somehow I still feel insulted by that.”
The enormous Super-Skrulls, objecting to this maltreatment, prepare to pummel Scott, but H’Kurrek orders them to hold. He addresses Cyclops coolly, stating how disappointed he is they cannot rise above their differences. Such a thing will not be possible when their differences include mass murder, Cyclops says. H’Kurrek insists he merely did his duty as a soldier. “No, H’Kurrek. A soldier is what you were when you started out,” Cyclops says. “I think we both know what you are now.”
The Skrull Commander has had enough. He reminds his captive he brought him to his ship to personally accept his surrender. He regrets that courtesy now. Take him away, he says. Cyclops, however, shakes off the Super-Skrulls; he never said that the X-Men surrendered. Puzzled, H’Kurrek begins asking what he means, but one of his officers interrupts. She just received an urgent transmission from Jora’thrll, who is in some sort of trouble!
Meanwhile, just above the streets of San Francisco, a Skrull shuttle explodes in mid-air and plummets to the ground.
The officer relays this event to her commander. The pilot must have lost consciousness and crashed. She then slumps over her control station and asks her commander for permission to rest; suddenly she doesn’t feel so well.
“In fact, Commander H’Kurrek,” Cyclops says with confidence, “I’m ready to accept your surrender. Any time you want to throw in the towel.” H’Kurrek grabs Cyclops by the collar and shouts in his face. What has he done? Coolly, Cyclops tells him the X-Men brought with them an infection. They sprayed it on their skin and on their clothes, and every Skrull who contacted an X-Man, and every Skrull those Skrulls have encountered, have been exposed. This, of course, includes H’Kurrek and his chief officers. The commander looks around the room, and sees his men falling over unconscious. The rest should be displaying symptoms in a few hours. Two days after that, Cyclops says, they will all be dead.
The commander orders Lieutenant Jash to summon the telepath Ard’ran immediately. He then turns to Cyclops and clenches his fist. “You upbraid me for murder then use plague as a weapon?” he asks Cyclops. However, Cyclops doesn’t think it has to end like this; no one has to die. The X-Men have an antidote, he says, and it has been adapted to Skrull physiology. If the commander and his fleet stand down, they can have it. Otherwise, they will carry a death sentence to every fellow Skrull they encounter.
Ard’ran suddenly arrives, at which point H’Kurrek orders her to read Scott’s mind and report whether he speaks the truth. Ard’ran looks at him for a moment. Her eyes widen. The virus is indeed real, she reports, and so is the cure. Cyclops can do as he claims.
H’Kurrek looks Cyclops directly in the face and tells him he is foul and unfit to breathe His air. What, and killing civilians is morally neutral, Scott asks? The way he sees it, H’Kurrek created this nightmare; Cyclops just brought it to his home. A Skrull officer asks the commander for his orders. H’Kurrek asks him to open a communication channel. “For God’s sake, let’s end this,” Scott tells him.
“For God’s sake, X-Man? For God’s sake?” H’Kurrek asks. “You’ll see what I’m prepared to do for God’s sake.” Sweating profusely, he turns and addresses his entire armada. He orders them to stand down and return to their base ships immediately. Although the sacred Skrull invasion continues, the battle for San Francisco is over. As impossible as it may sound, they are all casualties. It was an honor to serve with them, he says, before giving his final order. The Skrulls are to turn all helms over to H’Kurrek’s control. “And take comfort in His great love, as I do.” With that, he begins the five-second self-destruction countdown.
With only seconds to act, Scott has Emma patch him in with the rest of the team, whom he orders to retreat immediately. After pushing the Super-Skrulls out of his way, he blasts a hole in the side of the ship and leaps out into the unknown. Fortunately, Iceman appears beneath his plummeting teammate and scoops him up on his ice-slide. As the rest of the X-men escape, the entire Skrull fleet self-destructs over the skies of San Francisco.
From the ground, Iceman watches in awe as the armada crumbles. He can barely believe the commander scuttled the entire fleet. Cyclops reveals he would have done the same thing in his place; an infection of that severity requires cauterization. He reminds the X-Men their task is not yet complete, however. They still need to free the civilians. Upon his orders, Rockslide rips open the side of the building, and the X-Men escort the grateful hostages to safety.
Beast, meanwhile, approaches his long-time teammate and asks for a word. It seems all is well that ends well, he says. Cyclops agrees, and asks if Hank has something on his mind. “Something, yes,” Hank answers, scowling. “The fact that you decided to use the Legacy Virus before you asked me if I had a working antidote.”
Cyclops, looking away, tells Hank his conscience is one of the things he values most about him. “Never stop challenging me on things like that.” With that, Cyclops congratulates his X-Men on doing what needed to be done as the team turns and greets their adoring public.


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Book One
(Harlem, today)
Luke Cage and Jessica Jones are walking, arm in arm, towards Luke’s apartment, having been to collect groceries. They are having a humorous discussion about Iron Fist’s costume. As they arrive home, some local kids engage him in conversation, asking if his skin is really unbreakable. “How do you sweat?” enquires another. Luke ignores the silly questions but asks if anyone has heard something about a red convertible dealing on the playground at PS 44. They haven’t, and insist they themselves are clean. Luke, towering above them, suggests that instead of bouncing a ball against each other’s heads all night, why don’t they proactively involve themselves in the community. He wants a name. This guys dealing to kids and they don’t like that. Why? He asks. One of the kids replies that it’s ‘cause kids is the future. Luke leans towards him and corrects him. “’Cause I said so, yo.” He’s heading inside to eat dinner with his lady, and when comes out, he wants a name.
As they enter the apartment, Jessica reminds him that they’re just kids, but Luke points out that in two more years they’ll be more than kids. It’s better to work ‘em now so he has their respect when they’re… The couple stop and stare at a shadowed female standing in the apartment, looking right back at them. Luke stands in front of Jessica and tells the stranger that stupid doesn’t even begin to describe what she just did, breaking into his pad. “I know where I am, Luke Cage,” she replies. Luke can only utter the word, Christmas, before the whole apartment explodes, taking a sizeable chunk of masonry with it. The kids below look up in shock.
(S.H.I.E.L D. Helicarrier)
Floating one thousand feet over Virginia, the massive helicarrier hovers effortlessly, surrounded by several fighter jets protecting this important and expensive ship. Seated around a large conference table, S.H.I.E.L.D. agents discuss the latest issues. Agent Sharon Carter informs her colleagues that they have recently shut down a website that had a formula for a gas that affected the nervous system, chemically heightening a human’s sense of terror. Early this morning, they received several cryptic reports out of Israel. Sabra shut down a terrorist cell that was planning a nerve gas attack in the Gaza Strip.
She continues to inform Nick Fury that, last night, the president of Afghanistan went on national television and declared the astral plane an Afghan territory. “The astral plane?” questions another. “Why not declare La La land a territory,” they add, rhetorically. Carter adds that,either way, the U.S. Secretary of Defense wants to meet with them about putting together an astral plane training seminar for agents.
Moving on, Carter mentions that a new book by Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward is been published next month, which says that the President has grave doubts about S.H.I.E.L.D.’s involvement in the Hydra situation in Baghdad last year. They check their notes and also mention that there was an explosion in Harlem last night. Luke Cage is in hospital, in a coma. He’s in a serious condition. His girlfriend, Jessica Jones, survived the attack, and local police are investigating.
Having sat through the previous news without moving, the Luke Cage story makes Fury prick up his ears. Carter adds that, as is S.H.I.E.L.D.’s policy, they will wait for their reports before deciding whether to carry out their own investigation. “Luke Cage is in a coma?” asks Fury. Carter nervously replies that he is. He was attacked in his home; some sort of explosion. They don’t have any details as of yet. Nick Fury’s attention wanders as he thinks about this piece of information.
(hospital)
Danny Rand, a.k.a. Iron Fist, sits beside his partner’s bed, reading the sports results in the faint hope that Luke can hear what he is saying. Colonel Fury arrives and enters the room, shaking Danny’s hand, who asks why he is here. Fury replies that he came as soon as he heard. Danny didn’t even know he knew Luke, and Fury replies that he knew him a little. He asks what’s with all the tubes. Danny informs him that the doctors can’t break his skin, so they had to find alternatives to keep him… Danny sighs, as he remembers just how serious his friend’s condition is. He tells Fury that Luke suffered severe trauma to his internal organs, but they can’t perform any kind of surgery. Isn’t this always the way, he adds. His greatest power is standing in the way of letting these doctors even figure out what’s wrong. He clenches his fist, frustrated at his own impotence. Jessica, sporting a long scar on her forehead, asks Fury if he knows who did this to him. Why is he here? Fury cannot reply, as a tear edges its way down her cheek.
(flashback, one year ago)
On television, two S.H.I.E.L.D. agents are watching a recording of a televised battle between Killer Shrike and the Avengers. It shows Iron Man using his repulsor rays to pummel Shrike into the ground. They taunt their detainee, Shrike himself, as they watch him stand and run from the golden Avenger. This is their favorite part. Shrike runs without looking in front of him, straight into the towering god of thunder, Thor. “That had ta hurt,” one laughs.
They are seated in a dark interrogation room facing Killer Shrike. The two agents, James Woo and Jasper Sitwell, are taunting him, asking what it feels like to see yourself on TV, dressed like that, getting your butt handed to you. Sitwell adds that even he was embarrassed for him and he doesn’t even like him. Shrike is in a bad way, his clothing torn and his face scratched with blood dried over his skin. He mutters that he thinks he gets a lawyer. Agent Woo stands. “Super-villain Killer Shrike wants a lawyer. Simon Maddicks, a.k.a. Killer Shrike, is caught red-handed by the mighty Avengers of New York City, and now thinks a lawyer is going to save his sorry, b-level uninspired super tuchas.”
Maddicks replies that he’s been arrested before; he knows his rights. Woo tells him that he knows he’s been arrested before. Between them, they inform him that they know about his surgically implanted anti-gravity generator in the base of his spine. They know about his extensive martial arts training and about his head to toe strength-enhancing body armor. Aaaand, they know about his weapons systems in the form of these custom-made, twin power blasters he wears on his wrist. An evidence bag is held before him with his weapons sealed inside.
Colonel Fury watches the interrogation through one-way glass. Sitwell and Woo perform a sarcastic double act, as the hapless Maddicks sits there feeling sorry for himself. They point out that each bracelet has two curved titanium talons, and these bracelets, being a custom make, can discharge a high-frequency bolt of electricity with a maximum charge of 35,000 volts. They then mention the fact that according to Maddicks’ bank statements, he has $6,345 in savings and $2,344 in checking. He has no other accounts, secret or other, open in his name, no safety deposit boxes and no money stashed under his mattress.
Maddicks begins to sweat. “Y-You Feds can’t just detain me. I-I have the right to…” Agent Sitwell interrupts him and says that the question he has is: How can he afford the maintenance on a surgically implanted anti-gravity generator imbedded in the base of his spine, head-to-toe body armor or the custom made twin blasters he wears on his wrist? Maddicks becomes increasingly nervous, as he slowly realizes where all this is heading.
Agent Woo points out that this must run into the tens of hundreds of thousands. Where does a guy like Maddicks get the bankroll to do this? Who is writing the checks? Maddicks stutters between each question, telling them that the Feds can’t do this, and he wants his lawyer. Woo smiles and says that he keeps calling them Federal agents. “Who said we were FBI?” adds Sitwell. Maddicks’ face drops. “You’re S.H.I.E.L.D. agents?”
They persist with their questioning, not allowing Maddicks time to breathe as the atmosphere suddenly becomes tenser. They want a name. They’ll even make it easy for him. They know that Phineas Mason, the Tinkerer, is comping him. They want to know why and where he is. They stand and Maddicks stretches his arms out, frightened and pleading with them to stay away. Woo ignores his plea and grabs his arm, twisting it around his back, forcing his face onto the table. He then drags him to his feet and shoves his face against a wall.
The agents inform him that he’s going away forever. He was stupid enough to get video-taped, and every court in the land will gleefully let him trot in Ryker’s. If they remove his generator and leave him without his armor or weapons, they don’t think he’ll last two minutes in Ryker’s. Woo asks if he knows who else is in Ryker’s? His old friend, Hammerhead. They have Maddicks shoved against the one way glass, right in front of the unseen Nick Fury. They also believe the Punisher just got pinched. Maddicks has had enough and can’t take this kind of pressure. He tells them that he’ll give them what they want. He wants a deal to stay outta Ryker’s.
(Philadelphia)
It’s early evening, as Simon Maddicks approaches a doorway, monitored carefully by S.H.I.E.L.D. agents hidden away in a parked van, nearby. He presses a buzzer and a voice asks who it is. He says it’s Maddicks and the voice asks what he wants. Maddicks explains that he’s having trouble with his left wrist band. It’s got a short or something. The voice thought he got pinched, but Maddicks replies that he dodged it, though he struggles with his words, unreasonably nervous. Woo and Sitwell, listening in the van, know something’s wrong. The voice asks Maddicks if he’s alone and he pauses before replying that he is. The voice asks him to come on up. Maddicks reaches for the door handle and is instantly killed by a massive charge of electricity, which fries every cell in his body.
Woo and Sitwell grab their weapons and rush out of their van. By the time they reach Shrike, the place is crawling with undercover S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and hover cars which scour the area. Woo contacts the helicarrier, but it’s too late.
(later)
Underneath the building, Nick Fury and Sharon Carter wander through an underground tunnel system not found in the building plans. In the basement, they discovered four old passports with different names and some leftover packs of hundred dollar bills. Lined up against the wall are costumes belonging to a variety of costumed criminals, including Whirlwind and Taskmaster. A pair of the Vulture’s wings are spread across a table. The inhabitant is long gone and could be anywhere.
Fury’s phone rings and the Black Widow’s face appears on the screen. She has the Tinkerer in her sights. She is in Latveria, at the airport, and the aged Tinkerer is making his way through the terminal towards the exit. Fury asks her to follow him. “No, duh,” replies Natasha. Fury asks if he’s alone and Natasha explains that someone is picking him up, someone friendly, someone he knows. Unfortunately, she doesn’t know who it is. She uses her phone’s camera to take a snapshot, which she sends to Nick. The database should identify and tag him.
“Huh,” she says. Fury asks what it is. Natasha tells him that there are government plates on the car and quickly reaches her hand out, trying to flag down a cab. “Government plates?” Fury replies.
(Washington)
Fury has a meeting with the president of the United States and a few of his high-ranking officials. He explains that, for a couple of months, S.H.I.E.L.D. has been working on a project, codenamed CIRCUIT. They had a substantial break in the case this week. The president asks to be refreshed. Fury stands before a large screen with an image of Jack O’Lantern on it. He says that it started during one of their routine investigations. Their agents did a follow up on a character named Jack O’Lantern. He’s an idiot called Jason Macendale Jr., who was apprehended after he robbed a federal bank in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He robbed the bank wearing a self-designed Kevlar panel battle suit using anaesthetic, lachrymatory, regurgitant gas, smoke, and concussion custom-made grenades.
After an interrogation with the FBI, he was turned over to local S.H.I.E.L.D. agents for further questioning. It was during this questioning that one of their agents started crunching the numbers. Showing his array of weapons and armor on the screen, Fury informs the President that this Jack O’Lantern had robbed a bank, getting away with $11,345. The technology and hardware he used is worth well over three quarters of a million dollars. The difference between how much Macendale was making and how much his armor cost is staggering.
More faces appear on the screen of well known criminals. Fury continues to point out that they have been aware that many of these technological themed criminals were getting their materials from an underground figure known as the Tinkerer, in return for what we imagined was a piece of the action. For years, the Tinkerer eluded their agents. However, Macendale’s interrogation uncovered some more details. He admitted that someone was, in fact, backing the Tinkerer’s operation. A decision was made to actively renew their efforts in pursuit of the Tinkerer, because, if this is true, then these people are no longer criminals; they’re terrorists.
He continues his monologue. In their pursuit of the Tinkerer, they began interrogating any tech criminal that was brought into custody. The Tinkerer continued to elude their agents until this week, when the Black Widow identified the Tinkerer in Latveria, being escorted by Latverian intel to the castle of Lucia von Bardas, the elected prime minister of Latveria. Her face appears on screen alongside the Tinkerer’s and Dr. Doom’s.
The president says that it’s quite a hard pill to swallow. Fury acknowledges this, which is why he made this trip personally to brief him in person. The president points out that Lucia has bent over backwards to mend the ties between America and Latveria. They got her elected and the U.S. government, this year alone, has lent the country tens of millions of dollars in aid. $72m, adds one of his aides. Fury says it hurts to imagine what she’s done with that money, knowing what they know.  The president thanks him, but Fury has a recommended response to submit. The president says that won’t be necessary. “I’m sorry?” asks Fury, taken aback.
He shows them a document he’s prepared and explains that they can only assume that this situation is going to escalate. The next phase will be organized… The president interrupts him. He appreciated Fury’s enthusiasm but they have this under control. Fury queries how that could be. The president replies that the Secretary of Defense has a pleasant relationship with Lucia. They’ll handle thing, diplomatically.
Fury is becoming frustrated with how this briefing has gone. He tells his audience that, personal relationships notwithstanding, they have evidence here that clearly identifies a threat to… Again, the president interrupts him, thanking him for his report. Fury thanks him, through gritted teeth and departs. Outside the White House, Valentina catches up with him, asking what happened. Fury turns and says it’s happening again. They have the information. They know who they are and they have irrefutable evidence in their hands as to who their enemy is, and they’re going to sit on it and do nothing. They are going to follow the rules of diplomacy and innocent people are going to die because of this right here. He can’t go through that again. It’s happening all over again. Valentina asks what he’s going to do.
(present day)
Fury looks at the battered and bloody body of Luke Cage in his hospital bed, with Jessica holding him. Fury lowers his head. “What have I done?"


[User]
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Provide a full summary of the comic book.

[Assistant]
Book Two
(one year ago)
Captain America was created to fight the Nazis. Now, instead of fighting them, he’s fighting masked terrorists, kidnapping their own country’s ambassador, right on the steps of the United Nations. The terrorists have a gun to the ambassador’s head, so Cap doesn’t have time for fancy speeches. They don’t deserve one either. They might have chemical weapons on them, or they might try and blow themselves up to make a point no one in this country will ever understand. He knows he won’t. He hurls his shield at one of them and, seconds later, the fight is over, with Captain America once again victorious.
He removes his mask and relaxes, as Nick Fury appears in a doorway nearby. “Is it getting harder?” he asks. Cap replies that he’s the infamous Nick Fury. “You tell me.” Fury has just read the intel and praises Cap for his actions. Cap takes no pleasure in doing this kind of work. With Fury present, Cap knows that something is going on and he asks how bad it is. Fury holds his hands a few inches apart and then extends them further. Cap throws his shield over his shoulder and says he’ll assemble the Avengers. Fury asks him not to. No Avengers, no S.H.I.E.L.D. Cap asks him what he needs, and he replies, “Something secret.”
Daredevil swings high above Hells Kitchen, using his billy club to move from place to place. He has just saved a woman from having her purse snatched by drug-addled teenagers. The police yell after him but think he is out of earshot. He never is. He is blind and will be forever, but his other senses create a world for him that he has decided is better than sight. He only stepped in to help on the way from the courthouse to his offices at Nelson & Murdock.
There, he is greeted by his secretary, who informs him that his tea is almost ready. She hands him the calls from this morning, adding that Mr. Nelson will be out for the rest of the day. His two o’clock is here; a new client. Matt smells the stench of cigar smoke driven permanently into every inch of his clothes and the folds of his skin. He knows it’s Fury before he turns around. He is gnashing his teeth, probably without even knowing he’s doing it. Why the heck would Nick Fury be in his office?
Luke Cage is sorting out a drug dealer, scaring the life out of him, repeatedly asking, “What’s my name?” The punk is told that the next time he even thinks about coming round here selling that stuff, he wants him to remember his name. “Say it, say my name!!” The petrified dealer replies, “Luke Cage, P-Power Man.” Luke releases him and tells him to get outta his face. The punk scampers away, as Luke crunches the dropped powder into the concrete. Behind him, Fury arrives and says he always wondered what he did with the money after a drug bust.
Spider-Man is returning home, swinging between the high-rise blocks, anticipating an enjoyable evening with Mary Jane. He doesn’t know what she has in store, but it’s bound to be better than being hit in the face by a man made of sand. What he hopes is that he can get from Queens to Manhattan without running into the Green Goblin, or the Hobgoblin… or any other kind of goblin-thing person. Just for once, he’d like to spend the night with his wife, who puts up with plenty of crap from his alter ego.
He enters the apartment via the window, but hears voices from the lounge. He considers putting his clothes on and re-entering through the front door, but he knows that voice. He peers into the lounge and sees Mary Jane chatting away with Nick Fury. What on Earth is he doing here, Peter thinks. He’s not supposed to be in his civilian life. His spider-sense alerts him to the fact that Fury’s seen him and he enters the room, still fastening up his shirt. “Look who’s here, honey,” says Mary Jane with a strained smile. “In our house.” Peter shakes Fury’s hand and reminds him that they have a kind of understanding. Fury knows this but he’s cashing in a favor for that thing last time. Mary Jane doesn’t like the sound of this and Fury asks Peter what he’s doing next week. Peter asks Mary Jane, who replies that he’s not doing anything Fury wants him to. Fury doesn’t wait for a proper answer. He informs Peter that he’s going on a trip; no costume, no webs. This surprises Parker, and he asks where.
(next week, the airport)
It’s the evening and flight 456 to Latveria is boarding. Peter Parker is late and hurriedly makes his way through the crowds, through the metal detectors and just manages to make his flight. He’s pretty chuffed that for the first time in his life, he’s going first class. He just doesn’t want to think about where he’s going.
He looks into the cabin and sees a familiar face seated by the window, Matt Murdock. Across from him, a young woman plays on a hand held console, as the stewardess closes the curtain ready for take off. Peter approaches Matt and asks what he’s doing here. The same thing he is, Matt guesses. Peter asks if he knows exactly what that is, but Matt is in the dark as much as Parker. Peter asks if that’s Luke Cage behind them and wonders just what the heck is going on.
The stewardess asks a passenger to take his seat but the man is roaring drunk and obnoxious. Wolverine is on the whisky and informs the stewardess that he’s just been dropping the kids off at the pool. He grabs a bottle of booze from her tray and tells her that she’s a little bony for his type. However, once they get in the air, he’ll show her what it is he does best. Suddenly, he sniffs the air and turns to the cabin. “I know that smell, hhheeyyy…” He smiles, staggering against the wall as he does so. He moves to Parker, who simply says, “Oh no.” Logan is a ruthless killer, but he’s also really embarrassing when he’s on the sauce.
He sits facing Parker, looking over the seat in front of him. He’s never met Spidey out of costume. Parker asks him to shush and Logan asks what the heck he’s doing here. Matt interrupts them and asks how he managed to get on the plane with a skeleton made of metal. Logan taps his head and replies that he has a ‘plate’ in his head. He has a card for it. The stewardess places her hand on Logan’s shoulder and asks him to turn around and be seated. Logan again smiles and replies that, if she wants to make out with him that bad, just ask. The stewardess doesn’t see the funny side.
“Hey,” another voice shouts. “Do what the lady says, or I’ll remove you from the plane. Got it, soldier?” Even clutching a copy of the National Geographic, Steve Rogers is a commanding presence, and Logan respects him enough to do as he’s told. “All right, all right… don’t get your flag in a twist,” he replies. The stewardess thanks him and the five heroes settle down for their flight, silently. The young woman blows a bubble with her gum and smiles, as she checks out Wolverine.
(Latveria)
Captain America is greeted at the airport by the Latverian attaché for domestic affairs, who has been asked to take him to his hotel suite. The others wonder what the heck they’re supposed to do and Parker wonders if any of them speak whatever they speak here. None of them appear to know why they’re there. Luke reckons he’s just raised the black population in this country by one hundred and fifty percent. Unseen by them, the young woman follows close behind.
Matt recognizes an all-too familiar presence in the airport; Natasha Romanov, the Black Widow. He asks what she’s doing here and she replies that she’s stifling her femininity so she can blend in with this repressed culture. She can’t help it if she can make even a burka look good. He introduces her to the rest of the crew and she asks them to follow her. Peter asks about Captain America but Natasha says he knows what he has to do. The young woman follows and Wolverine turns and tells her to take a walk. She says she is with the group. Everyone turns in unison and even Natasha lowers her sunglasses to get a better look. Matt asks who she is but her response is that, if they were supposed to know, they’d know.
(later)
Natasha has them seated around a table at their rustic hotel and ensures the room is clean of eavesdropping devices. Peter leans over to Logan and says he’s about as out of his depth as he ever has been in his entire life. Natasha opens the door and a woman enters carrying a tray of food and drink. She clicks a switch on her watch and her face dissolves, revealing underneath it, the charismatic Nick Fury. “Uh, eeww,” utters Parker; “That’s going to haunt me.”
Fury thanks them for joining him. He begins to speak, but Parker quickly interrupts, asking if this is some kind of top secret thing. “Without peer,” replies Fury. Parker questions why then they were all put on the same plane. Isn’t that a bit, glaring? Fury answers by saying that there were one hundred and thirty-two people aboard the plane. He is a teacher, one a lawyer, a kid on spring break, a bodyguard and whatever Logan is. The only person looking that carefully would be him, and he isn’t looking.
Fury wants them to bond with each other, and fast. Luke asks what’s going down, as Natasha hands Nick a small holographic projector. Fury informs them that, a week ago, they put together proof that dozens, if not all, of the technologically-based theme criminals working in the United States were being funded through third parties, funded by the Latverian government. “The who did what,” enquires Logan, chomping on a chicken wing. Fury switches on the projector and the faces of Jack O’Lantern, Grizzly and Killer Shrike appear. He repeats the sentence again. “Oh my…” sighs Matt Murdock.
Fury continues to say that it is their belief that these people are being placed and positioned for what would be a huge, single act, or a scheduled series of acts of terrorism. In a minute, he and Natasha are going to unveil the plan. Peter asks that if they are there, what are they doing here? Are they just going to break into the castle and beat everybody up? No, Fury replies, they’re going to overthrow the government.
(today)
As Fury looks at Luke Cage lying in his hospital bed, he and Danny Rand are startled as Captain America enters. “Good lord,” he says, “It’s true. And here you are. I told you this would happen.” Cap is furious. “At ease,” Fury replies, “Not in front of the…” Without warning, Cap slaps Fury across the face, sending him sprawling to the floor. Cap bends down and picks him up by the collar. “I told you! I told you this would happen! Damn you for what you did to us!!”