[Late Night] [Tony's Lab]
Tony stood in the center, wearing a plain black shirt, hands deep in the console as holographic scans rotated in front of him. He didn't look tired, even though he hadn't slept much since the return. His mind was sharper than ever.
Elena stood nearby, fully projected in her humanoid form. Her physical body was keeping an eye on the three. Her white-blue glow flickered gently as she processed the data in real time. Hermes operated in the background, syncing energy readings and biological models between the lab and the med bay.
A full scan of a Skrull hovered in the air. Bones, nerves, and organ layout. Green musculature. Shape-shift control nodes. Each scan rotated slowly, surrounded by red rings of warning data.
Tony spoke without looking up.
"We have tissue samples. Blood, bone, skin. Everything we need. Start with their base genome and cross-reference it with the data we pulled from the cruiser's nervous system."
"Cross-linking now," Elena replied.
The DNA strands appeared next, side by side. Human on one side. Skrull on the other. At first glance, they looked similar. But deeper in, the code changed. Certain protein folds twisted in a way that human DNA didn't. That was the flaw. The weak point.
"There," Tony said, pointing. "Right there. The poly-shifter sequences. These are what give them their ability to change form. But it's unstable under certain radiation types. Find that frequency."
Hermes responded, "Scanning across full wave spectrum. Ultraviolet showed a minor reaction. Gamma and X-rays caused recoil. Cross-linking biological rejection markers now."
Tony narrowed his eyes. "Run a sim. What happens if we flood the environment with that frequency but on a safe scale?"
A screen lit up with a simulation. A Skrull in human form entered the field. Within seconds, the illusion flickered. The skin shifted. The muscles buckled. The shape-change failed. It snapped back into its original form, gasping.
Elena stepped forward. "It works. Even a small pulse is enough to disrupt their disguise."
Tony turned and moved to a nanite forge console. A slab rose up. He pressed both palms against it. His armor formed instantly along his arms, fingers glowing. He began coding a design with hand motions, sculpting the tool in mid-air.
"Let's build it small. Something wearable like a watch or ring... Yeah, let's go with a ring."
Hermes pulled up possible configurations. Tony picked a ring.
The screen showed the prototype. A small band with an internal frequency generator, nano-sensor array, and a localized scan field. It could scan any person within five feet and detect shapeshifters in real time.
Tony nodded. "Perfect. Give it a silent alarm. We don't want them knowing we're onto them."
The forge activated. Nanites formed the ring in a matter of seconds. It hovered for a moment, then dropped into Tony's hand. He held it up to the light, studying it.
"One problem solved," he said quietly. "Now, to add the disrupter charges. Let's infuse every single nanite with 1 charge."
Tony placed the ring into a small chamber on the side of the forge. He tapped a few commands on the screen, then paused, thinking.
"Elena, pull up the nanite code architecture. I want to rewrite their storage protocols."
Lines of code filled the air. Long strands of nanite instructions glowed around him. He scanned them quickly, eyes darting back and forth.
"We're going to fuse each nanite with a dormant charge. Something small, but enough to deliver a short burst of that disruption frequency."
Elena tilted her head. "Are we going with auto-release or manual trigger?"
"Manual," Tony said. "If it fires by accident, we risk a panicked situation. Let the user choose when to fire the pulse."
He tapped another few commands, modifying the nanite script. The forge's interface updated in real time. A visual model of the nanites appeared, each one with a glowing blue core inside it.
Hermes added, "Each charge will last one activation. The ring carries thousands. Once used, the nanites will dissolve and rebuild with fresh energy from ambient sources. Shall we use Model 50 Codex?"
"Good," Tony said. "We'll make them self-sustaining."
"Understood."
The forge glowed brighter as it worked. The ring inside pulsed with light, then dimmed. The machine let out a soft beep.
Tony stepped forward and removed the ring. It felt light, almost weightless. The metal was smooth, warm to the touch.
He slipped it onto his index finger.
A faint blue light flickered once around the edge of the band, then faded.
A small screen popped up beside him. Readings flowed in.
Power: Stable
Charge count: 12,432
Recharge rate: 2/sec (ambient draw)
Target scan range: 5.2 ft
Disruptor ready: Standby
Tony grinned.
He raised his hand and activated the scan mode with a small twist of the ring. A soft hum vibrated in the air, almost too low to hear. Blue light shimmered around his hand for a split second.
"Scan complete," Hermes said. "No shapeshifters detected."
Tony lowered his hand.
"Run mass production protocols," he said. "I want my family and friends to have one each."
"Processing batch orders now," Elena confirmed. "Do you want to embed tracer signatures in the rings as well?"
Tony thought about it. "Yes. Make each one traceable, but only by me."
He turned and leaned back against the forge table, arms crossed.
"No more surprises. No more Skrulls hiding in plain sight. Not in my house."
...
[Time: 3:30 PM]
The base was quiet. Most of the crew had finally passed out after two chaotic days. Johnny was snoring on the couch. Ben was out cold in the reinforced room. Sue had fallen asleep with a tablet still glowing beside her. Natasha and Yelena were sleeping too.
Only the guards were awake.
Tony stood in the central hub, surrounded by floating screens. His eyes were locked on the schematic of the entire base. Every hallway, room, entrance, and exit was mapped in real time.
"Elena, are the maintenance bots ready?" he asked quietly.
"They're standing by," she replied. "Do you want a silent deployment?"
"Yes," Tony said. "Keep it discreet. Start with the living quarters. Then move to the labs. Follow up with hangars and security posts."
"Confirmed."
Tiny circular hatches opened across the base, releasing dozens of spider-like maintenance bots. Each one was armed with a micro-detector rig and a nanite disruptor pod. They were cloaked and moved without sound, crawling along walls, ceilings, and floors, using ventilation shafts and hidden service tunnels.
As they reached each room, they deployed small detectors onto the walls and ceilings. Each one pulsed once with a faint blue light, then vanished into the structure.
Tony watched it all from the hub.
The data streamed in. Room by room. Signal by signal.
Hermes fed him the results as they rolled in.
"Living quarters: clear. Med bay: clear. Training deck: clear. Engineering bay: no anomalies. Hangar one: normal."
Tony nodded, not looking away.
"Security wing?"
The bots entered through the ducts. Two units slid into the weapons locker, another three into the guard rest zone.
Hermes paused.
"Minor fluctuation detected."
Tony's eyes narrowed.
"Show me."
A screen popped up. One of the bots had stopped in a dark hallway near the west wing guard lounge. It scanned twice. Then again.
Hermes ran the data. "Signal inconsistency in carbon signature. Slight molecular shift. Localized heat bleed. No active disguise disruption yet, but…"
Tony cut in. "Deploy a soft disruptor burst. Low power. See what shakes loose."
One of the bots flashed silently. A small wave of invisible energy rippled through the room.
Nothing happened at first.
Then a shimmer.
A slight flicker in the far corner of the room.
A Widow standing near the door twitched.
The skin on her face rippled. For less than a second, green muscle flashed beneath.
Tony's hand tightened into a fist.
"Gotcha," he muttered.
The drones surrounded the Skrull, trapping him inside a plasma barrier. Tony quickly connected to the drones and warned her, "You move a single muscle and I'll skin you alive."
"Elena, activate all the disruptors now and use Code A. Complete lockdown. No one gets in or out without my permission. Wake everyone up. It's time to clean the house," Tony said as he cracked his knuckles.
Red lights flared along every hallway, followed by the emergency alarm. In the living quarters, the lights snapped on. In the med bay, screens flickered. Across the base, metal shutters slammed down over doors and windows.
LOCKDOWN ENGAGED
Tony quickly scanned Yelena and Natasha, but luckily, they weren't Skrulls. So he quickly informed them to be ready for some action.
Then Tony's voice came over the speakers, calm but cold.
"Attention, everyone. Do not move. Stay exactly where you are. This is not a drill. I repeat... this is not a drill."
The alarm continued, a low blare repeating every five seconds.
Tony's voice returned.
"Skrull infiltrators have been confirmed inside this base. In short, they are shapeshifters. They can take any form. If you move from your location without direct clearance, you will be treated as hostile. Status does not matter. Stay still. You will be scanned. Anyone attempting to flee, hide, or shift forms will be shot on sight."
The message ended.
Silence fell.
But only for a moment.
In the main security corridor, Widow teams stood frozen. One of them, standing near the wall, twitched slightly. A faint shimmer rippled across her skin. Her breathing changed. The Widow next to her noticed and narrowed her eyes.
A small disk on the ceiling blinked. A soft pulse fired from it.
The shimmer hit harder this time.
Her body stuttered, glitched. For a half-second, her face flickered into green skin. Her eyes turned black. Then she snapped back into her Widow disguise.
Too late.
From the ceiling, two nanite drones dropped. They sprayed a burst of blue energy. The woman screamed as her disguise broke completely. She fell to the floor, now fully Skrull, writhing as more drones pinned her with energy nets.
Another Widow nearby reached for a weapon, but froze when a red dot landed on her forehead.
"Don't," came Yelena's voice from the shadows. "I dare you."
She stepped into view, her suit fully active. Her left hand, sonic cannon, aimed steadily, right hand ready to deploy a plasma blade.
The fake Widow slowly raised her hands, and a drone hit her with a scan. The flicker came again.
She was a Skrull too.
Captured.
[Second Level]
Elena stood near the door.
"Hold still. Verification in progress."
The blue light passed over Sue, Johnny, and Ben. All readings green. No anomalies.
Sue looked up at the speaker.
"We're clear."
Elena nodded once.
"Confirmed. You three remain where you are. Do not open the door."
[West Wing] [Guest quarters] [NASA scientists were living there]
Four scientists stood frozen. One of them was sweating heavily, fingers twitching.
Tony's voice came again through the ceiling.
"Section 7B. Three confirmed humans. One not."
One of the drones in the room fired a disruptor pulse.
The fourth scientist collapsed. His disguise cracked and fell away. Green skin. Black eyes. A low growl escaped his throat as his true form emerged. He lunged forward, but before he got more than a step...
Zzt!
High-voltage electric shock, enough to knock out an elephant.
The Skrull hit the floor, unconscious.
...
[1 hour later]
Sixteen Skrulls captured. Tony also put Horizon Base on lockdown and ordered Natasha and Melina to go there asap and use the disruptors and scanners to check if there are any Skrulls there.
Now...
Tony stood before the containment cell. He was angry as hell. But more importantly...
"I'll give you all one single chance. Where are my girls? What have you done with them? How did you fuckers infiltrate? When did you fuckers infiltrate? If my girls are alive, where are they?"
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