4 Chapter 4

Vers was dragged into the Skrull spaceship, unconscious and helpless. They strapped her to a strange device that looked like a metal spider with wires and electrodes. As they activated the machine, Vers felt a jolt of pain in her head. She began to see flashes of images that haunted her dreams.

"Is she even a Kree soldier?" one of the Skrulls muttered, looking at her blue blood.

The images shifted and changed, speeding up and slowing down, rewinding and fast-forwarding. It was as if her mind was hooked to a screen and someone was browsing through her memories.

She saw herself and another woman, both wearing flight suits, walking towards their jets. They exchanged a smile and climbed into the cockpits. They soared into the sky, leaving behind a trail of smoke.

"This might be it. Back it up a little." a voice said, sounding distant and distorted.

Vers saw herself as a child, riding a go-cart with a helmet on. She lost control and crashed into a fence. She cried out in pain and fear.

"This is too far back. Move forward." the voice said, impatiently.

The images changed again, showing her different moments of her life. She saw faces she didn't recognize, places she didn't remember, events she didn't understand. They stopped when she was leaning against a car, holding a cat in her arms.

"You are the first person she liked apart from me." an old woman said to her, smiling warmly. She had gray hair and glasses.

The old woman turned to her left and looked at the horizon. "Wonderful view, isn't it?" she said, feeling the breeze in her hair.

Vers nodded, but her eyes were drawn to the blue sky. "I prefer the view from up there." she said.

The old woman chuckled. "You will get there soon enough, ace." she said, patting her shoulder. She then walked away, leaving Vers alone with the cat.

"Wait. Wait. That's her. Play it back. Make her focus on the name on her clothes. Focus. Focus." the voice said, urgently.

Vers squinted at the old woman's dress, trying to read the name tag. It was blurry and faded, but she could make out some letters. "Dr Wendy Lawson. Pegasus. That's it. That's her." the voice said, triumphantly.

They wanted to dig deeper into her memory, but Vers snapped out of the trance. She opened her eyes and saw the Skrulls staring at her. She felt a surge of anger and fear. She tried to move, but she was restrained by metal clamps.

She looked at the clamps and concentrated. She felt a warm glow in her hands. She unleashed a blast of photon energy, melting the metal. She freed herself and kicked the machine off her.

The Skrulls heard the commotion and turned to face her. Vers, who was now free, blasted them with her fists. She knocked them down one by one, leaving them unconscious or dead.

She then ran to their leader, who was sitting behind a console. She grabbed his neck and lifted him up.

"Why are you targeting me? Why are you implanting memories in me again? What do you want from me?" she demanded, squeezing his throat.

The Skrull gasped for air. "I am afraid no one has been able to achieve memory implanting throughout the galaxy. If you do know someone, please tell me." he said, weakly.

Vers tightened her grip. "Stop playing with me and answer properly." she said, angrily.

The Skrull coughed. "We really can't implant memories. We were just reading what was already in there. We are looking for Dr Wendy Lawson. Why is she in your head?" he said, desperately.

Vers was stunned for a moment. She didn't know who Dr Wendy Lawson was, or why she was in her memory. She didn't have time to think. She slammed the Skrull's head against the console, knocking him out.

She then ran out of the room. She saw more Skrulls in the corridors, trying to stop her. She blasted them with her fists, clearing her way.

She reached the escape pods and got into one. She pressed a few buttons and the pod ejected from the ship. She looked back and saw the Skrull spaceship shrinking in the distance.

The pod zoomed away from the Skrull ship, heading towards the nearest habitable planet. Vers sat in the pod, clutching her head. She couldn't stop thinking about what the Skrull had said.

"No Vers, you can't believe the Skrulls. They are an evil race that infiltrate planets and take over the whole planet. Lying is in their nature." she repeated to herself, trying to calm down. But she couldn't ignore the flashes of memories that had invaded her mind.

Those memories, they felt so real, so vivid. She could sense the emotions that accompanied them. She could feel the joy, the pain, the love, the fear. They were not like the fake memories that the Skrulls had tried to implant in her before. They were different. They were hers.

"Then why did she look a lot like the supreme intelligence? Let's just say what I am seeing is actually true, then did the supreme intelligence lie?" she wondered, remembering the encounter she had with the supreme intelligence ten years ago.

*Flashback 10 years ago*

Vers was standing on a circular platform, surrounded by wires and tubes. She felt something cold and slimy crawling up her legs. She looked down and saw a metallic liquid covering her feet. She panicked and screamed "What is this?"

A soldier standing next to her said "Relax, it is just to connect you to the supreme intelligence. Supreme intelligence is an artificial intelligence that embodies the whole Kree empire's greatest minds. It will help you with all the answers you have."

Vers didn't have time to ask more questions, as she was suddenly transported to a blank white space. She looked around, confused and scared. She heard a voice behind her "No need to panic. This is just an image in your head. I am ready to answer all your questions."

Vers turned around and saw a woman she had never seen before, standing in front of her. She was the same woman from her memories, but she didn't know that. She was Dr Wendy Lawson, but she didn't know that either.

Vers asked "Who am I? Where am I? Why don't I remember anything?"

The supreme intelligence replied "You are a Kree soldier who was captured by the Skrulls. Skrulls are an evil race of shapeshifters. They can mimic any lifeform, down to their DNA.

They wanted to wipe out your memories and fill your head with fake memories. After that, they would use you as their spy.

We were lucky enough to learn their plan and save you before they were done with implanting fake memories. Since we saved you in the middle of the process, there might be a few fake memories in your head, which you can ignore.

I understand this might be a lot for you to learn immediately after losing your memories. Your best friend, Minn-Erva, will fill you in on any missing memories, since she was with you almost your whole life."

Vers was shocked by what she heard. She couldn't believe that she had been a prisoner of the Skrulls, that they had tried to mess with her mind, that she had lost her memories. She said "I need time to sort out my thoughts."

*Flashback ends*

Vers recalled that incident and the more she thought about it, the more holes she found in the story that the supreme intelligence had told her.

Vers said to herself "If Minn-Erva is my best friend, why do I always feel that she hates me? And those memories, they feel so real. I can feel all the emotions again when I recall those memories. And the supreme intelligence, why does she look like that woman Wendy Lawson? I always thought it was weird that she wasn't in the Kree database. People say that the supreme intelligence takes the form of one of the most important people in your life. If so, then I should know her, but Minn-Erva never even mentioned her."

She continued to question everything, but she couldn't find any answers. She sighed and gave up. "I need answers and the place where I will get answers is the planet where that woman is from. I remember seeing the planet name on the main ship panel, I think it was C-53."

She tapped on a few screens and the pod changed course. She hoped that she would find the truth on that planet.

****

Back on Earth, Max woke up the next day and saw Anna moving in with Lisa. He muttered to himself, "Great, another one joins the killer. I'm bound to get involved with them if S.H.I.E.L.D. ever comes after them."

He left the building and visited all the dojos he had signed up for. He took an hour-long class from each dojo and did some physical exercises to build some muscles. But it was no use. He was so strong that all the exercises were easy for him and with his electricity inside him, he had almost unlimited energy. His only option was to work out with larger objects, which he couldn't do in the city.

He had to go to the outskirts and lift logs, but they were at least helpful in increasing his strength.

He returned home at night. Strangely, he didn't feel hungry ever since he charged himself to the max at the electric company and he ate every day only because he felt like it. It was the same with his sleep.

Max was standing in front of his home. He reached for his keys in his pocket when he heard a familiar voice call out to him. He turned around and found Anna standing before him, with her hands completely covered in something red.

'That's clearly blood. Let's see what she says.' Max thought.

Max asked, "What happened, Anna? Did you cut yourself?" pretending not to know.

Anna smiled and said, "No, this isn't blood. I was chopping some beetroots and this is the juice from them. I want to wash my hands but there is no water in our house."

Max said, "Let me check if I have water in my house. Come on in."

He opened the door and invited Anna inside. As she walked into the house, she tripped on the edge of the doorframe and fell on Max. He caught her and got the blood all over his clothes.

Anna got up quickly and looked at the red stains on Max's clothes. She apologized, "I'm so sorry. Let me wash that for you."

Max refused, "No need. It's beetroot juice, right? It should come off without leaving stains."

He led her to his kitchen and she washed her hands. Anna thanked Max and went back to her house.

Max then took off his shirt and threw it away because he knew that getting rid of the stains was hard.

Anna entered her house and Lisa was waiting inside eagerly. Anna said to Lisa excitedly, "You were right, Lisa. This is actually fun. I love how he tries to pretend he doesn't know it's blood. I really want to see him break his innocent act. I can't wait for our next meeting with him." She jumped up and down in excitement.

"You can have fun with him, but we're doing it together. I found him first, after all." Lisa said and they started planning many scenarios to mess with Max.

The next day, Max went to the electric company he used to work at and he was fired for not showing up for two days. Actually, it was just an excuse to lay off people since the company was in losses.

Now, with his only source of electricity gone, he had no other option than to go to power stations far from the city.

With no work and the martial arts classes in the afternoon, he was free till then. Seeing Max at his home, Anna and Lisa visited him several times in just two hours. Once to borrow his kitchen knife since hers was blunt, bringing a bloody knife as proof and lying that it was fish blood she was cooking.

Then they came to Max with a gun and said that a bullet was jammed, asking for help. Max helped them and they said that they had it for self-defense and were practicing their aim.

Every time they visited, they brought something from their work and acted clueless, with Max playing along.

Max was obviously annoyed, but not enough to snap at them because he also knew that they were just messing with him and it was just harmless fun, until someone else saw them.

In the afternoon, he went to his martial arts classes and then headed to the outskirts to charge himself from the electric lines and train his body. He worked out until it got dark and when it was pitch black, he decided to head back to his house. On his way, he saw something fall from the sky and crash into the trees nearby.

Max looked at it and said, "Wow. Am I getting an Omnitrix this time?"

He ran towards the crash site and saw metallic sheets scattered around a small crater. Max got closer to the crater and felt a sudden surge of energy. He dodged quickly and barely avoided a colorful blast that came from the center of the crater.

Max was on high alert and moved towards the crater with caution. A person got up from the center of the crater and she was also in her fighting stance, keeping a safe distance from Max.

Max looked at her face and said, "Brie Larson."

The woman asked, confused, "What are you saying?! ....NO! ....Did I damage my universal translator in the crash?"

Max asked her, "Who are you, woman?" Even though he knew the answer.

The woman sighed in relief when she was able to understand what Max said. She said, "Great. It didn't break. Listen, I am Vers, Kree Starforce. Can you take me to someone in charge in this district?"

Max said, "Does your Starforce greet new people by blasting shit in their face?"

Vers replied, "You should understand that it was instinctive. Now, take me to your officer in charge for this district or take me to the nearest communication station."

Max said, "Woman, you are an alien and when the people of this planet see you walking around blasting energy blasts from your fists, they will either try to capture you or kill you."

Vers said, "So, this is one of those backward planets that still hasn't achieved space travel. What do you suggest I do? I need to communicate with my team and let them know that I am here."

"I think I can get you the equipment that might help you communicate, but if you want to transmit to outer space, I can't do that." Max said.

Vers replied, "Don't worry about that. We are technologically advanced enough. I can use my communicator to make it work for outer space."

Max said, "Great. Now, let's leave before people start to gather here and make it hard to leave."