OLD FRIENDS AND OLD ENEMIES

By Anthony Crute

There are times in the course of all life forms existence when they are surprised. When the odds they had calculated to either be in their favour or against them do the complete opposite. The first time I took down an opponent three times my size was one such moment. When I came top of the class in physical defence despite already having been put up two age groups. The first time an enemy managed to get the drop on me despite my superior strategy. The first thought, followed very quickly by my first action against the Kree empire whilst on Earth. My battle with Thanos which seemed un-winnable…each more surprising than the last, each makes you think the world cannot get stranger, Eternity laughs at such a thought and then you find yourself coming back from the dead facing an enemy you thought stuck in a different dimension.

“The Super-Adaptoid?” Captain Marvel gasped. The figure who had just tackled him in the air and dragged him down with it’s weight to roof level had begun to go through a transformation revealing a green hue as his body took on the qualities of Captain Marvel’s own form.

A grin spread across the Adaptoid’s face as it fired a blast from the Nega Bands it had formed on it’s wrists. This was in itself strange enough as last time they clashed the creature had no such face. Mar-Vell tossed himself sideways somersaulting onto one hand and then back to his feet. The reflexes he had hones through years in the Kree military were always his best form of defence.

He spun sideways to hide behind the roof access doorway as another blast of energy from The Super-Adaptoid’s ‘Nega Bands’ slammed into the structure sending the metal door spinning down the stairwell. The brick’s buckled under the pressure but managed to hold together.

I wish for a second that I had my own Nega Bands. Wherever or whenever I have been for the past few years the Nega Bands I wore did not come back with me. I notice now in this moment, under fire as all of my honed nerves take account of the situation, that thankfully it seems I no longer need them. The Nega Bands were there to harness my innate psionic power turning it into strength, speed, energy projection and flight, it seems I no longer needed them to do these tasks. This also worries me more than it comforts, what does this mean about me and my true nature?

Mar-Vell was lacking a large part of his memory but one thing he could remember however was The Super-Adaptoid. He was a rogue android with the ability to mimic the abilities of any hero he came into contact with.

The memories flooded into his mind. The Avengers were all around and he was wrestling with the androids hands. This however was all part of his plan. He slammed the wrists of the robot together and was within a split second with nothing more than a flash of light holding his young friend Rick Jones who had been trapped in the Negative Zone.

The Super-Adaptoid should have been trapped there, it appeared however in the intervening years the green robot had managed to escape somehow and he was not best pleased with our eponymous hero.

The energy cascading around the stairwell now faded. I took a deep breath and prepared to launch myself around the structure to face my enemy. I tensed my body trusting muscle memory to do the rest as I switch to automatic and prepared to leap…this was one of those times when the probability suddenly seems to shift and a surprise comes as I was met with a solid blow to my face.

His body arced back through the air and came crashing down to the roof again. He kicked up launching from his back instantly to his feet. His skill with the various forms of Kree martial arts in which he had been trained from youth coming to the forefront again.

His eyes scanned the surface of the roof as he turned quickly trying to view as much of the scene as possible. A blow to the face made him take another step backwards to steady himself.

The speed which The Super-Adaptoid had once mimicked from the mutant Avenger known as Quicksilver was being used to great effect as another flurry of blows landed in quick succession. Captain Marvel counted fifty swift punches land on his form before the android allowed him to fall backwards.

His mind was spinning and the pain racing through his face was certainly distracting from any attempt to formulate a plan.

In the Kree Military you are trained from a young age in the art of war, the art of fighting with numerous weapons and discipline. It was thanks to this that I had honed quick and sharp reflexes and my body could react in certain ways even when my mind was elsewhere.

He rocked his weight backwards bringing his knees to his chest before rolling his weight backwards. The judo like throw caught the body of The Super-Adaptoid as he raced to capitalise on his fallen foe and tossed it’s green body overhead.

The robot managed to spin in the air as tufts of fur sprouted across his body as he mimicked the powers of The Beast. Captain Marvel managed to leap to his feet and once again faced his foe. The eyes of the two moved across the face of one another.

The Super-Adaptoid certainly looked different to the way Mar-Vell remembered him. He used to look much like a human with a rounded bucket for a head. A clearly human face was now staring back at him, even if it currently was covered in a short green fur. He was bald and his skin was taught and blemishless and this carried with it an air of falseness.

“You’ve changed a lot,” Mar-Vell placed his weight on his left foot as the two began to pace in a small circle constantly keeping their eyes on one another.

The Super-Adapatoid’s face shifted into a smile. “I’ve changed more than you can possibly imagine Kree man.”

“It’s been years since we last fought yes? Is what we’ve had in the past really worth this now?” Cap questioned as he continued to pace in the circle opposite his enemy. He wanted nothing more than to simply speak to the robot, it must have some link to his resurrection.

“You try being trapped in the Negative Zone and then tell me,” a long streak of lighting stretched down the chest The Super-Adaptoid as he launched forward.

I smile, the irony of his comment is lost on him. If anyone knows what it is to be trapped in the Negative Zone it is I.

The Beast with his speed and agility was hard enough to keep track of at the best of times but now that The Super-Adaptoid had added that with Quicksilver’s powers he wasn’t visible even to the Kree’s superior eyes.

Cap put up his fists ready for any blow he could get in and to defend as best he could against his quicker foe. His eyes flicked from side to side as he picked up a shift in the surroundings almost like a heat haze as the form of the Super-Adaptoid flitted from side to side.

The next time Captain Marvel clearly saw The Super-Adaptoid was as he skidded to a halt directly in front of him and the hammer wielding hand slammed into the hero’s chest. Captain Marvel let out a scream of pain as he hurtled backwards through the air.

My eyes, now bleary and watering from the blows to my face a moment or two earlier watched as the clouds arced overhead in the light of Sol as it began to dip below the horizon. My mind was clear for those moments until the tops of buildings began to descend into my vision. They gave way to the street which like them panned in from above as my whole body turned in the air.

It was this which allowed him to slam on the breaks with his powers of flight and stop his fall. The unusual view jolted him back into conscious thought. He righted himself and faced The Adaptoid as quickly as he could wiping his filling eyes as effectively as he could.

The green robot stood on the edge of the building motioning for him to rejoin him on the building. Cap hovered in the air keeping his eyes transfixed on the green android. When it became clear the Kree superhero wasn’t just going to blindly launch back into the battle he couldn’t win giant gossamer like wings sprouted from the creatures back and began to beat faster then even Marvel’s Kree eyes could see.

The Super-Adaptoid moved through the air, his fur and the mark of Quicksilver faded leaving only the wings of Wasp, the hammer of Thor and the Nega Bands. The speed of Quicksilver that had given the android such an advantage wouldn’t help him in the air.

Cap had the speed advantage this time. He shot through the air leaving his glittering trail behind him. He managed to get within the defences of the creature and slam a hard elbow across the face of the android. It’s flesh moved like that of a real human being rather than the hard surface it used to be.

A blast from Mar-Vell’s hand managed to dislodge the hammer from the Adaptoid’s hand. The metal dissolved before it hit the ground. Mar-Vell seized the two hands of the robot much like he had years before and held them tightly.

The Kree man was fighting on gut instinct. He had been trained since birth by his parents to develop the needed skills of a warrior. He had been trained since he was 9 cycles old in the ways of the Kree soldier by the toughest and sternest warriors in the empire. Those skills had then been tested by the fires of battle across the galaxy, he did well to trust them. He turned his body over into the battle, the instinctual fight hammering his blows into the robot. It was all he could do to silence the thoughts of his mind, the confusion and the worry about his origin and who he was…these were not the way of a warrior.

The android had the strength of Thor and he was already starting to push outwards with his hands to break Mar-Vell’s grip. “If you’d just stop fighting,” Mar-Vell growled through gritted teeth as he tried to hold onto the android “I want to talk. You’re probably the last thing I can remember clearly…then you turn up as soon as I get my memory back, I don’t think that’s a coincidence. We’ve both changed since then…and…”

“I hate you!” Super-Adaptoid screamed as he threw out his hands and slammed the rapidly formed hammer into the super Kree’s chest driving him back down to the floor.

Mar-Vell looked high above him as the force of the blow knocked him unstoppably back. The Super-Adaptoid burst into a ball of green flame reminiscent of The Human Torch before racing down towards him.

“You want to know the truth?” asked The Super-Adaptoid as he reached Captain Marvel just in time to stop the hero recovering slamming him into the street with a blast of flame.

The green figure stood over the form of Captain Marvel. “Do you know what it is to live your entire existence with nothing? No drive of your own, only existence…until you accidentally scan a mutants empathy? To suddenly know emotion, to gain humanity and have to view your pitiful existence with this hindsight?”

The Super-Adaptoid slammed a foot hard onto Captain Marvel’s chest stopping him from going anywhere as it’s form began to shift. A thick green beard began to form over the bottom of his face and it’s skin began to crack like crumbling brick. “You Captain Marvel trapped me in a hell dimension and left me to be a slave without free will to some insect despot…in regaining my humanity all I had was hate for you! When I sensed your powers activating again all I could think of was revenge.”

The Super-Adaptoid raised the hammer above his head. Captain Marvel struggled against the power of The Super-Adaptoid’s foot but the robot remained steady and unmoved. “Now with the combined strength of Hercules, Thor and The Thing I will have it!”

A Kree soldier, even a disgraced and disavowed Kree soldier do not give up. We do not bend or break to situations beyond our control. The more a force pushes against us the more we will push back even if…especially if it is an unwinable situation. I continue to fight.

A blast came hurtling in from the side. The Adaptoid turned to witness it in the second before it hit him and brought his hammer into a defensive position. The blast was however enough to send it hurtling back.

Mar-Vell rolled onto his side and looked up at Warbird and the other Captain Marvel who were hovering in the air side by side. Their arms outstretched still glowing with energy.

“Are you okay?” Genis asked, his eyes fixed on the man who looked like his father who was climbing up to his feet.

“Are you you?” Warbird asked, possibly the more pertinent question, as she drifted through the air towards him. Her eyes however were fixed on The Super-Adaptoid, years of working as a superhero had trained her in how to deal with these situations.

“Carol, of course it’s…” He paused for a second “…I don’t know.” He shook his head and turned his eyes sadly down. He panned them back up and glared at The Super-Adaptoid. “I think he might though, he’s one of the last things I can remember and now he’s here just after I got what little of my memory I have back.”

“Well there’s one way to find out,” Carol nodded. “Stay down and out of the way while we deal with him. We have lots of questions for you afterwards.”

“Carol, do you think for a second that’s going to happen?” Mar-Vell tilted his neck to one side and then another cracking his neck and limbering up his muscles as best he could. The truth was though, he was Kree as far evolved to humanity as we are to our ape ancestors. Each Kree is essentially born as a perfect human with all the strength and speed of Captain America.

“Well there’s the first test passed,” Carol smiled briefly. He certainly sounded like Mar-Vell she had once known. “Captain Marvel…uh Genis. Come at him from a 45 degree angle to mine. Mar-Vell get behind him if you can and…”

The Super-Adaptoid suddenly shifted his appearance, a 4 appearing on his chest and then he faded from sight. “He’s using The Invisible Woman’s powers,” Carol informed before being yanked from the air with speed and strength. It seemed he had accessed Quicksilver’s speed and some form of super strength again causing her head to slam hard into the street. Her body bounced hard against the floor for a second before being whipped into the air in a long arc and tossed hard into the side of the building across the street.

“Warbird!” barked Genis.

“I’m fine…getting sick of being thrown into buildings by robots though,” she gritted her teeth.

Mar-Vell was about to speak but was knocked backwards about twenty feet himself to where he crashed to the floor. “Stay in the air, he doesn’t have the same speed when he has to fly!” he yelled as he tried again to climb to his feet only to have a kick delivered to his face.

Genis let a smile flicker across his face before launching out a beam of energy. It sparked around a green form which became visible and arched back into the air and then to the ground. “Hate to break it to you but invisibility doesn’t really work against someone who has Cosmic Awareness…” His head turned to Carol. “Don’t tell The Invisible Woman, she’d only feel embarrassed.”

The three superheroes drifted into the air and then dived as one towards the floored figure of The Super-Adaptoid. He hovered into the air himself. “I think speed in the air won’t be a problem anymore,” he grinned as stars began to move across the surface of his skin and his uniform formed several features of Warbird’s costume as he combined their speeds and launched into the air firing blasts of energy at the three figures as he went.

”I suppose this means he’s too fast for either of you?” Mar-Vell looked to his two allies.

“What about you?” Carol asked with a nod. The three began to rise rapidly to the shape of The Super-Adaptoid anyway.

“I can certainly try,” he gritted his teeth and shot as fast as he could away from his two allies who could only watch as he streaked past them leaving his golden trail behind him.

I rose rapidly letting the world streak past me as he fixed my gaze on The Super-Adaptoid allowing the world around me to blur into nothing so that there were only the two of us. I am a warrior and it is my way. I see only the enemy which I am about to face.

The Super-Adaptoid was hurtling up through the air ahead of him. It suddenly changed direction and was hurtling back down directly towards Mar-Vell. It’s fist glowed with green psionic energy harnessed from the other Captain Marvel.

The two forms met in the air smashing their powered fists into one another at the same time. Each bounced back in the direction they had been coming from before pressing on towards one another with pure force.

“I want my revenge on you,” Adaptoid screamed between the blows he was giving and taking as the two exchanged blows in the air “not them, if you allow them to fight then they will die.”

Mar-Vell blocked the next blow with a rising forearm before managing to deliver a straight punch to the face of the android. A smile crept across his face “You obviously don’t know Carol and,” he repeated the punch “if she lets this other wear my name I imagine he’d be the same. No one lets us do anything.”

Mar-Vell broke the hold of The Android and quickly lifting his knees to his chest kicked out into it’s chest sending it hurtling back. The point he just made was hammered home as Warbird and the other Captain Marvel rose rapidly from below the Adaptoid and seized an arm each.

They turned in unison pushing their force into the gut of the figure and rolling their hips before releasing him to toss him down to the floor. It was a judo throw Captain Marvel recognised from Captain America.

The three heroes without missing a beat formed into a pillar of strength as the three plummeted at equal speeds powered by their flight towards the still falling form of The Adaptoid. “I’ll give you this, you certainly fight like Mar-Vell,” Warbird smiled.

Mar-Vell returned the smile with a flicker of his gaze across her face and then to the other Captain Marvel. “You, young one, definitely hold my name well, who are you?”

Genis teeth were gritted and his eyes narrowed as he fixed his gaze on the falling figure. “I’m your son…move!”

Mar-Vell was wide-eyed for a second with the news that this other Captain Marvel, the one who seemed to have inherited his Cosmic Awareness was in fact his son. The sudden snap order and the rapid sideways movement of the figure redirected his momentarily distracted attention back to The Super-Adaptoid.

The roaring energy of the lighting exploded around him. It felt like it was ripping across every cell of his body. He let out a scream of pain as his body went limp and began to fall.

“You got distracted…Mar-Vell didn’t do that,” Carol spoke. Her voice was close, Mar-Vell opened his eyes to find himself staring into her face. She held him steadily in her arms much like he could recall doing to her at points in the past.

“I used to have Cosmic Awareness, it was hard to be blindsided.” He nodded and lifted some of the weight from Carol’s arms as he began to lift his own form. He looked down to the figure of Genis who was currently exchanging rapid blows and close range blasts of energy with The Super-Adaptoid.

“It seems it went to good use, I wonder what will win out the Super-Adaptoid’s superior speed or Captain Marvel knowing the position of every molecule of creation, knowing what hits are coming and when…even then it’s not always so easy to get out of their way.”

“Not all molecules, He can’t sense you. Cosmic Awareness says you don’t exist,” Carol shook her head and gave Mar-Vell a look. It was a mix of pain, sadness and hope. The pain and the sadness were obvious, she didn’t think that this man before her was truly the friend she had lost all those years ago…then there was the hope that it was, there was always a chance in the mad world they lived in that this could be him, this could be the first Captain Marvel.

Captain Marvel was silent for a second, this was disturbing news to him. Not only did he not know who exactly he was, he now appeared that he shouldn’t even…or perhaps didn’t exist.

Warbird hurtled passed him towards The Super-Adaptoid who had managed to knock Genis-Vell to the floor and then rise towards his other two opponents. Warbird was the first to meet him.

I could only watch as I gave chase to her. Carol was a firecracker, she always was, the one human who never seemed intimidated by me in those early days. She never backed down and she never asked for anything. She was all but genetically a Kree, a soldier and a warrior to be proud of. She began to exchange her own blows with The Super-Adaptoid. She was stronger than Genis by the looks of things or she was at least more adept at using her fists to deliver the damage needed while he would use other methods. That and as I had already noted, she was ferocious in battle, Genis seemed calmer and more reserved, thinking about cause and effect while Carol reacted on instinct and he instinct was to hit with all of her might rather than hold back.

Her body was tossed back momentarily by a monumental blow from The Super-Adaptoid’s hammer and Mar-Vell thought he had his opening for a second but before he could capitalise and attack she was back slamming her two handed blows down across the back of her enemies head before meeting it with her rising knee.

Captain Marvel faltered for a second, it was not a usual event for him. Would it be better for him to interfere or hold back and let Warbird handle the android which she seemed to be doing with some ease.

Ease he thought was the wrong word. The Super-Adaptoid let out an all might scream and whipped his hammer down across the face of Warbird sending her spiralling through the air before crashing to the ground. Mar-Vell now ceased the chance.

He ploughed into The Super-Adaptoid not giving the android a chance to recover form the blows which were being inflicted on him. The two crashed hard into the floor as Mar-Vell began to unleash blows on the android.

He lifted his hands above his hands and brought them together to make his own makeshift hammer effect before bringing them crashing down.

The Super-Adaptoid caught his hands and glared at Mar-Vell. “You are stronger and faster than your profile I have within me…some deeper power inside of you.” The android’s eyes lit up for a second or two as he stared at Mar-Vell. “I will adapt to you and then neither you or your friends will stand in my way.”

The was a tense moment as Captain Marvel pushed against The Super-Adaptoid with all of his strength, to try and break through to him and stop him from adapting.

The android was glowing now with golden energy, smiling. “The power! The power…!” his face began to shift from one of happiness to something else, his mouth was slowly opening and closing for a second or two and then he clamped it tightly shut gritting his teeth, his eyes closed sharply as he grimaced in pain then let out an immense scream.

The light erupted from every cell in his body in one brilliant burst hurling Mar-Vell through the air. He lifted his head to watch the android which was now no more than a glowing figure of light rising into the air.

The light seemed to explode, it was silent and delivered no real power it was simply there one second and the next sparks of the golden energy fell from the air like burning cinders. They mostly fizzled out before they reached the ground.

The three heroes were left standing alone in the street simply looking at one another. “Okay ‘Mar-Vell’,” Carol turned to face him “Now you’re definitely coming with us.” Her face was etched with determination that the superhero would not evade her this time.

Mar-Vell nodded. He now wanted to go with her, he would seek any source of knowledge about his origin.

Stark International

Captain Marvel was strapped into a metal chair. The straps weren’t tight and even if they had been it was nothing he couldn’t have broken through easily. They were simply so that he would remain stationary as much as possible while the tests were conducted.

“Anything Tony?” Carol flicked her eyes across to Mar-Vell.

Iron Man was sitting at the computer reading the feed from the machine. “Well it was a while before his death that we took this reading…and it was just a quick scan by the mansions automated security…but he mostly matches up on everything.”

“Mostly? I thought this would be 100%”

“So did I,” Iron Man clicked a few buttons and began to type again. “It seems whatever process whether it be resurrection or time travel or…whatever. It could be anything from cloning to some damn villain plot, but he’s definitely Mar-Vell by all earthly measures. Blood checks out as Kree too.”

“What about non-Earthly measures?” she questioned. She had already explained to Mar-Vell as they flew here that The Avenger’s Mansion had been destroyed and with it went most of their lab tech thus why they had to come here to run whatever tests they could.

“I’ve got some built in here…which will take a few hours. I’ve requested whatever Reed’s got up at the Baxter Building as soon as possible and Hank says the second we want to take him up to the Institute, he’ll run him through the Shi’ar systems.” Iron Man’s head titled toward Mar-Vell who was still sat in the machine simply watching the two of them silently. “Carol lets take this outside for a moment.”

The two stood and walked from the room leaving only Genis to watch over Mar-Vell.

re“I’ll apologize for them…they shouldn’t talk like you’ not here,” Genis shook his head. He was at least unconsciously trying to ingratiate himself to this man who was at least the image of his father.

“I was in the military, I’m used to it. You’re a house plant until you’re needed.” He smiled gently and warmly. “So you’re my son?” Mar-Vell turned to look at Genis.

“Maybe,” Genis crouched slightly in front of the figure of the first Captain Marvel whose name he had taken. “All depends if you’re really Mar-Vell?”

“Who’s your mother? You’re older now than the years which have passed since my death…I wasn’t aware I had a son otherwise I would have came looking for you. Genis wasn’t it?”

“Genis-Vell,” there was a momentary beat as his eyes moved to the other man’s face looking for a reaction of any kind. “My mother is Elysius of Titan.”

“Elysius…ISSAC’s assistant, she tried to overthrow Titan yes?” Marvel’s face was screwed up as he tried to probe his shattered memory. It was obvious that his memories of Elysius were fractured.

“She turned against him and aided you and Rick against ISSAC. You two fell in love, a few years later she created me from your DNA. I was artificially aged.”

“She was at my death bed, I remember…I remember thinking we were so in love.” Mar-Vell smiled. “I’d like to see her again I think…her and Rick, I remember him being there too.”

“Rick may be a bit of a problem, we were separated and he got hold of the Uni-Power. He’s off out there somewhere doing his own super-hero of the galaxy thing,” he stopped as he noticed Mar-Vell smiling widely showing all of his teeth.

“I don’t know what’s better, Rick being bonded to my son or him finally getting the power to be the man he always was inside.” Any doubts Genis had about this man were gone in that second…more or less. The joy he had for Rick was clear in his face.

“So how much of your memory do you have? You can’t remember my mother but have no problem with Rick or Carol?”

“I can remember your mother…” Mar-Vell corrected. He wasn’t sure but he thought he had sensed some tone in the voice of Genis akin to annoyance or anger. “…The memories are just jumbled and fractured. I do remember being with her…at times, it feels like I’m watching from outside my own body though as if I was someone else.”

“Are all of your memories like that?”

Mar-Vell shook his head slowly. “There are others which are the same, a lot…my death included, I can remember myself in my death bed but there are those I remember clearly.”

Genis nodded in time as he took in the information. He couldn’t help but shake this feeling which sent shivers up his spine. This man was his father, the one he had been denied all his life. All his life making do with a computer generated simulacrum of this man. “I have to ask,” he sighed deeply “Why did you run today?”

Mar-Vell was silent for a moment. “My memories had just returned but they didn’t feel right…not then, they didn’t feel like my own. I still felt like the man I have been living as for these past months. I was scared.”

The doors to the room suddenly flew open as in marched Captain America, Cannonball, Vision, Namor, Warbird and Iron Man. “Captain Marvel we need you now. HYDRA assault in Washington and The Avengers are needed ASAP!” commanded Captain America.

“I’ll free Mar-Vell he can help,” Warbird announced as she nodded and moved towards him. Captain America noted how easily she called him Mar-Vell.

“No,” the star spangled Avenger shook his head. “He can be released but he can’t come with us.”

“You don’t trust him enough to come with us but enough to be left here alone?” Namor queried. Mar-Vell couldn’t help but notice that certain air of superiority which he wore on his sleeve even now.

Captain America turned to look at him for a second. Warbird was freeing his hands. “Yes, Iron Man has top security here…the worst he can do is escape and fly away like he did after Ultimo. If he comes with us and turns…” Mar-Vell was silent, he just watched Captain America with a reserved understanding.

Warbird fixed her eyes on Mar-Vell’s as the other Avengers made their way to the now open massive floor to ceiling window against the wall. The Quinjet was on the top roof of the building and straight up was the quickest way to get there. “Stay put, if you’re really you stay put until I get back please.” Mar-Vell nodded and with that Carol took to the air and soared through the window after her fellow Avengers.

Captain Marvel was alone left to contemplate all he knew now. The world had changed so much since, whatever happened, happened. The most noticeable difference being that he now had a fully grown son.

He had missed out on so much, all of the child’s life and yet he still seemed to view him as a father. He seemed a good man, a son to be proud of being the hero already what it took Mar-Vell the majority of his life to become.

The worst part now was he didn’t know where he fit in. He was once the protector of the entire universe, defeater of Thanos…or maybe he wasn’t. He didn’t know his true past or his origin, how he came be here now or how he had become his alter ego Tim Lee so easily but it all added to his sense of confusion and fracture. Now he had a son who was an Avenger, Carol now had more experience in the super-hero world than he did and Rick Jones was off being an intergalactic hero with more power at his disposal than he ever used to. The world had changed all around him and he hadn’t.

He sat back on the chair and moved his hands across his face cradling them while his mind raced. They were attempting to offer some kind of support. He had been scared that day, scared of his friends and the thoughts which raged in his mind when his memories returned…Kree warriors fear nothing and yet he had been scared.

Tap, Tap, Tap…

Mar-Vell lifted his head slightly when he heard the noise. He heard it again, this caused him to turn his head to the tall window. He leapt from the chair and turned to face the window.

There are times in the course of all life forms existence when they are surprised. When the odds they had calculated to either being in their favour or against them so the complete opposite. Each more surprising than the last, each makes you think the world cannot get stranger and then you find yourself coming back from the dead facing an enemy you thought stuck in a different dimension. Still you think the world cannot get any stranger.

There hovering in the darkness of the night just outside the window was a figure. The figure was bathed in a sparkling glow which kept his body suspended in the air. He was decked out in the same uniform that Captain Marvel himself was wearing. What was more astounding though was that he had the same face. The same strong jaw and look of distance etched across his face.

His mouth curled up at the sides at the look on the face of Captain Marvel inside the building. “Would you come outside please, we have to talk.”

Eternity laughs loudest when you think he can’t surprise you anymore.

NEXT: Captain Mar-Vell meets Captain Mar-Vell…huh? Only one way to find out what the hell is going on.