Chapter 46: Chapter 46: Mar-Vell’s Laboratory

The modified aircraft hummed with energy as it prepared for takeoff. Arthur settled into his seat behind Carol and Maria, who had taken their positions in the cockpit with the easy familiarity of longtime flying partners. He glanced at Norex sitting across from him, feeling a quiet satisfaction.

“You’re welcome, by the way,” Arthur muttered to the Skrull scientist.

Norex tilted his head. “For what?”

“For saving your green hide. Talos was ready to leave you behind as a decoy.”

The Skrull’s expression hardened with resolve. “I don’t care if I have to sacrifice myself for the Skrull cause. Each of us would gladly die if it means our people survive.”

Arthur shrugged. “Sending false coordinates to Yon-Rogg is far more effective than sacrificing you for what would have been, at most, a five-minute delay.”

In the seat beside Norex, Talos shifted uncomfortably but didn’t argue. The plan had been his idea after all – leave his trusted scientist behind disguised as Carol to buy them time. Arthur had shut it down immediately, pointing out the cruelty and futility of such a sacrifice.

“Initiating launch sequence,” Maria called from the cockpit, her voice steady despite the extraordinary circumstances. “Everyone strapped in back there?”

“As ready as we’ll ever be,” Fury replied, nervously clutching Goose to his chest. The orange tabby purred contentedly, seemingly unbothered by their impending journey beyond Earth’s atmosphere.

Talos pressed himself against the far wall, eyeing the Flerken with undisguised terror. “You really shouldn’t have that thing on your lap, you know.”

“Alliance with you is tenuous at best, green-skin,” Fury retorted, stroking the cat with exaggerated affection. “As long as Goose here keeps you nervous, he’s getting all the cuddles.”

The engines roared to life, and Arthur felt the vibration run through his entire body. His stomach lurched as the craft lifted off the ground, accelerating upward at a rate that pushed him back into his seat.

Through the viewport, he watched the Louisiana landscape shrink beneath them. Fields and forests became patchwork quilts, then abstract paintings, then finally disappeared altogether as clouds enveloped them.

“Passing 500 and climbing,” Maria announced, her voice professional despite the unprecedented nature of their mission.

“How’s our structural integrity?” Carol asked, hands steady on the controls.

“Holding,” Norex replied, checking the readings on a makeshift console of Earth and Skrull technology.

The blue sky gradually darkened to indigo, then to inky black. Stars appeared, impossibly bright without atmospheric interference. Arthur’s breath caught in his throat. Despite all he had experienced in two lifetimes, nothing had prepared him for this – the vast emptiness of space, the brilliant pinpricks of distant suns, the curve of Earth below them, a perfect blue marble against the void.

“Bloody hell,” he whispered, pressing his face closer to the viewport. “It’s magnificent.”

“First time in space?” Maria asked, glancing back at him.

“Isn’t it yours as well?” Arthur countered.

She shrugged. “I’ve skimmed the edge in a jet. Close enough to taste the quiet.”

“So?”

Maria ignored him, twisting fully in her seat to face the others. The cabin hummed with unspoken tension, thick enough to carve. She fixed Talos with a look. “Can I ask you something?”

“Ask away,” Talos replied warily.

“This shapeshifting… can you just turn into anything you want?”

“Ah, the eternal question,” Talos sighed. “Well, I have to see it first. Get a good visual imprint.”

“Can all Skrulls do it?” Maria pressed.

“Physiologically? Yes,” Talos confirmed. “But, uh, doing it well? That takes practice. Skill. And, dare I say it,” he added with a touch of professional pride, “a certain degree of natural talent.”

“Can you turn into a cat?” Fury asked, an impish gleam in his eye.

“What’s a cat?” Talos responded with genuine confusion.

“What about a filing cabinet?” Fury continued, warming to his impromptu interrogation.

Talos looked baffled. “Why would I turn into a filing cabinet?”

“A Venus flytrap?”

“I’ll give you 50 bucks right now if you turn into a Venus flytrap,” Fury offered.

Talos sighed deeply, looking to Arthur for support, but the wizard merely grinned.

“For another fifty quid, I’d like to see you transform into the Queen of England,” Arthur added cheerfully. “Complete with crown and all the royal trimmings.”

Talos sighed dramatically. “Your species has a bizarre sense of humour.”

“Switching engines from Scramjet to Fusion,” Carol announced from the front, cutting off the banter. “Buckle up, folks. Might get a bit bumpy.”

The craft lurched forward with sudden acceleration, pressing them all deeper into their seats. Arthur felt his stomach flip as they broke free of Earth’s gravitational pull entirely.

“Hey,” Fury stammered, his composed facade cracking slightly. “Is this normal, like, space turbulence?”

“Pretty much,” Carol replied without turning around.

After several minutes of exhilarating, slightly nauseating acceleration, the engines throttled back, shutting down with a final hum. Outside the viewport, endless stars sparkled against the darkness. It was breathtaking—and utterly terrifying in its vastness.

Goose meowed softly, seemingly untroubled by their cosmic surroundings.

“Locking in on coordinate grid,” Carol announced, scanning the emptiness ahead. “Where is it? It’s gotta be here.”

“Well, is it in front of all that nothing, or behind it?” Fury asked sarcastically.

Carol manipulated something on her wrist device. A crystalline trill echoed through the compartment, and before their eyes, the emptiness shimmered and transformed. A massive structure materialized—an orbiting laboratory complex hanging silently against the starfield.

“Cloaking technology,” Arthur murmured appreciatively. “Very impressive.”

“Preparing for docking sequence,” Carol announced, her hands moving with practiced confidence across the controls. “Everyone hold tight. This could get bumpy.”

—

Miles below on Earth, Yon-Rogg stood in the middle of a barren desert, fury radiating from every pore. The coordinates Vers had transmitted had led him to nothing—absolutely nothing. No sign of her, no trace of the Skrulls, just empty landscape stretching to the horizon.

Arthur’s strategy had worked perfectly. Instead of arriving at the Rambeau home or some other place to find a lone Skrull attempting to impersonate Carol—a deception that would have lasted minutes at best before ending in execution—Yon-Rogg had been sent on a genuine wild goose chase.

He keyed his secure channel; the holographic visage of Ronan the Accuser formed in the air before him, stern and unyielding.

“Commander Yon-Rogg,” Ronan’s voice boomed. “What is the status?”

Yon-Rogg straightened, struggling to maintain his composure. “Subject Vers has gone rogue, aided by Skrull insurgents and C‑53 natives.”

Ronan’s lip curled. “Intervention is en‑route. I will reach the planet within one rotation. For the good of the Empire, the infestation will be purged.”

The link severed.

Yon‑Rogg exhaled through his nose—slow, controlled. Pride wounded, mission compromised, but not yet lost. He would find Vers, retrieve the core, and—if necessary—drag her before the Supreme Intelligence in chains.

—

(Back at Mar-Vell’s Lab)

After docking their modified craft, the group cautiously explored the interior of the cloaked space station. They moved through corridors that blended Kree functionality with surprisingly Earth touches – posters, personal items, hinting at Mar-Vell’s life undercover.

They eventually reached what appeared to be the main research chamber, and there it was—the object of their quest, glowing with an ethereal blue light. The Tesseract suspended in an energy containment field at the center of the room.

While the others were distracted by the surroundings, Arthur found himself drawn to the cube. He knew what it really was—the Space Stone, one of the six Infinity Stones, objects of immense cosmic power. Without waiting for the others, he approached it, reaching out almost involuntarily.

“Careful there,” Carol called, but too late.

Arthur’s fingers closed around the Tesseract, lifting it from its housing. The moment he touched it, raw power surged through him unlike anything he’d ever experienced. His magic resonated with it, amplifying exponentially. The fabric of space bent around him, responding to his will. Apparition, which had always been limited by distance and risk, now seemed childishly simple. He could teleport anywhere in the universe with barely a thought.

But the power was too much and the connection quickly spiraled out of control. The Tesseract wasn’t just enhancing his magic, it was hijacking it. Arthur felt his magic reaching out, warping the space around him without his direction. He tried to release the cube, but his fingers wouldn’t respond. Panic gripped him as he realized he was about to be teleported—somewhere, anywhere in the vast universe.

Just as blue energy began to envelop him, Carol lunged forward and wrenched the Tesseract from his grasp.

The connection broke instantly, and Arthur staggered backward, gasping.

“What happened?” Carol demanded, holding the cube carefully.

“That thing,” Arthur managed between ragged breaths, “was about to activate and send me on an unplanned space adventure. Not exactly what I had in mind for today’s excursion.”

Even as he spoke, his mind raced with the implications. That power… it was unlike anything he’d ever felt. Raw, pure, cosmic energy that could reshape reality itself. If he could harness it, learn to control it instead of being controlled by it…

“Good thing I took this from you then,” Carol said, studying the cube with newfound wariness.

“Yes, rather fortunate timing,” Arthur agreed, flexing his fingers to ensure they were working properly. “That was… intense.”

His casual tone belied the calculations running through his mind. Could he take it? Should he? The Stone was supposed to be swallowed by Goose, eventually making its way to SHIELD, but if he intercepted it…

“Understood. Stay away from the glowing cube,” Fury stated firmly, giving Arthur a look that clearly questioned his judgment.

As they continued exploring, Maria wandered to a nearby desk. “What was Lawson doing with all this kid stuff?” she asked, picking up what appeared to be a child’s drawing.

“Of course,” Arthur said suddenly. “We’re not alone.” He pointed to a steaming cup of coffee sitting on a nearby desk. “That’s fresh.”

“Which means Talos didn’t just come here for the Tesseract,” Fury deduced grimly.

“He came for his family,” Carol finished.

As if on cue, they heard Talos’s voice from another section of the lab, calling out in his native language.

Carol made a quick decision, grabbing a nearby lunchbox decorated with cartoon characters and placing the Tesseract inside.

“I should take that,” Arthur said immediately, eyeing the lunchbox. “I can hide it properly, ensure no one gets their hands on it.”

Carol hesitated. “You sure? After what just happened?”

“Perfectly sure,” he insisted. “I know not to touch it directly now. I’ve had experience hiding dangerous artifacts. Trust me, no one will find it if I’m the one hiding it.”

After a moment’s consideration, Carol nodded and handed him the lunchbox. “Be careful with it.”

“Always,” Arthur replied, tucking it securely inside his jacket.

“Let’s go find out what Talos is up to,” Carol suggested, turning toward the direction of the voices.

“Right then,” Arthur said, following behind. “But Carol…” He looked pointedly at the inhibitor on her neck. “You might want to think about taking that off soon. We could be facing Yon-Rogg and his team very shortly. Might need all your power.”

Carol’s hand moved unconsciously to the device. “I don’t know if I can control it…”

“You can,” Arthur assured her with unexpected gentleness. “Have some trust in yourself. But no pressure. Do it when you’re ready.” His mouth quirked in a half-smile. “Or when things get really dire. Whichever comes first.”

As Carol, Maria, and Fury became absorbed in the emotional reunion of Talos’s family and subsequent explanations, Arthur quietly slipped to the periphery of the group. The lunchbox pressed against his chest, its contents calling to him even through the metal container.

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