𝐙𝐀𝐊𝐒𝐎𝐋𝐗'𝐒 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐎𝐁𝐁𝐄𝐃. It took a minute to remember everything, but once he did, he quickly tried to stand. However, the action was less than graceful as he tripped on an electronic cord and fell, wrapping himself up in the process.

The lights hanging from bizarre angles overhead flickered. While the surrounding shelves were half-empty, the floor was covered in debris from the shattered roof.

Vers groaned as she slowly sat up, drawing attention to herself as Zaksolx tried to untangle himself from the cords that threatened to strangle him. Although she looked equally as disoriented at first, a smug smirk crossed her lips as she laid eyes on him. As the cords were bound around his mouth like a gag, he could only offer a sheepish, but concealed smile.

It certainly looked like she had several insults at the tip of her tongue, ready to bite away whatever remnants of his dignity remained, but she refrained. Instead, she dusted the debris from her Starforce uniform before moving to his side in an effort to untie him.

Once free, Zaksolx cleared his throat, dusted himself off, and offered his appreciation. However, she raised a hand, stopping him before he could muster a single word. "You're welcome. Now as much as I'd love to hear some praise for saving your hide, we've got bigger problems."

Zaksolx raised an eyebrow in confusion and turned his head to check their surroundings. "What—"

"Shhh." She covered his mouth with her hand while holding up a single finger for emphasis. His confusion lasted up to the moment that she gestured to the shadowy figure at the front of the store. Without time for delay or consideration, her fist lit up in a flare of neon hues.

He'd forgotten about her extraordinary abilities, so as the ball of energy was fired from her wrist and collided with the head of the cardboard cutout, he gulped while imagining the pain felt on the other side of her hands.

"Remind me to never cross you," Zaksolx muttered under his breath.

She continued her pattern of strong silence, but her lips curved upward into another smirk. She took a breath then flipped open the communicator attached to her wrist. "Vers to Starforce Command. Do you read me?"

There was no reply. Vers continued to attempt making contact with her team, but with little success. Moments later, she'd given up and joined Zaksolx as he walked down an aisle lined with small plastic boxes on metal shelves. Intrigued, Vers picked up one of the boxes from the shelf labeled 'Action Movies' and flipped it around to read the summary along the back.

However, something outside just as quickly stole her attention away and she was on the move again. Zaksolx looked up in confusion from his own action film as Vers walked past without a word and stepped outside the store through the window they'd shattered rather than the door beside it.

With a gentle sigh, Zaksolx placed the film back onto the shelf and followed after her, careful not to trip over the cords that had once restrained him.

Vers wiped the dust from her shoulders and straightened her suit to regain her lost confidence back from their strange surroundings. Then, she marched up to the clearest vehicle and knocked against the window to gain the attention of the individual within. Slowly, the window squeaked with every inch it moved.

Vers bent down, brushing the hair that fell in front of her eyes as she did. "Hi. I'm Vers. Kree Star Force. Is this C-53?"

The human within the vehicle's jaw slightly dropped while his eyes constantly shifted back and forth between the two people who seemingly fell from the sky.

"Do you understand me?" Vers asked, snapping her fingers to try and keep his attention. Annoyed, Vers turned to look back toward Zaksolx while referring to the device around her wrist. "Does he understand? Is my universal translator working?"

Zaksolx opened his mouth, but the cop finally broke his pattern of silence. "Yeah, I understand you."

"Oh good." Vers nodded her head, allowing a smile to grace her face that she'd been told offered a sense of friendliness and trustworthiness. "Are you in charge of security for this district?"

"Sort of." The officer slowly nodded his head while trying to look beyond her to her partner as if each presented an equal threat. Zaksolx was almost flattered by the thought. The officer then gestured off in the distance, still in shock. "The movie theatre has its own guy."

"Where can I find communications equipment?" Vers continued her process of questioning. The officer silently lifted a finger and pointed toward the Radio Shack across the street. Vers nodded her head appreciatively. "Thank you."

Without another word, she silently motioned for Zaksolx to follow. He jumped on his toes unprepared to be back on the move once more. "So we're back to the silent treatment. Okay then."

It didn't take long for Vers to gather the parts she needed once Zaksolx had offered to pick the lock to the door rather than smashing through the window. She'd given him an odd look, but allowed him to try anyway. He'd given a cheer of glee with his success which quickly changed to a sheepish laugh with the smirk that formed on her face.

"I—um... sorry."

"No, no." She stifled her laugh. "Don't hold back your celebration on my account. I just didn't realize that Ze-Los was one for celebration, your file didn't really say much."

"What... what did Ze-Los's—My! What did my file say about me?" He dearly hoped his little slip of the tongue hadn't revealed anything.

"Just that you worked alongside Soh-Larr as a spy," Vers explained with half a shrug as she exited the shop, her arms practically spilling with parts.

"Need some help?"

She seemed to glare in his direction as if insulted by the implication that she couldn't handle herself. "I got it."

Zaksolx quickly lifted his hands in the air defensively, surrendering his actual intent with a step back. "You know what, you've got it."

"Yes. That's what I said." She rolled her eyes as she modified her communications equipment to calibrate with the payphone attached to the building just around the building. She flipped the device on, but muttered under her breath with frustrated hope. "Come on..."

"Vers!" Yon-Rogg's voice was distorted at first, but gradually cleared. "Verify, C-T-C-3-9."

"G-R-X-3-1-6-0-0," she confirmed but added a flare of sarcasm, "And I'm fine, thank you for asking. Is everyone okay, what happened?"

"Skrull ambush," Yon-Rogg explained. Zaksolx flinched at the mention of his native species, but hoped it had gone unnoticed as Vers kept her back turned to him while continuing her conversation. Yon-Rogg's concern remained on the other end of the line. "I thought we'd lost you. Did you find Soh-Larr?"

"It wasn't Soh-Larr." Vers shook her head even though the action wouldn't be seen. "Talos simmed him, even knew his code."

"That's impossible," Yon-Rogg's incredulous tone contradicted, "That code was buried in his unconscious."

"The Skrulls messed with my mind," Vers attempted an explanation from the limited information that she herself knew. "The machine that they used, I think it was how they extracted Soh-Larr's code."

"Vers." The concern in Yon-Rogg's tone had yet to leave. "Where are you?"

"I'm on planet C-53 with Ze-Los," Vers replied, forgetting that she hadn't actually introduced the fact that she'd found a different prisoner on the Skrull ship instead of the one that Starforce had meant to extract. "The Skrulls are looking for someone named Lawson."

"Ze-Los?" Yon-Rogg only grew more confused. "Vers—wait, who?"

"Yes, try to keep up. I located Ze-Los aboard the Skrull ship," Vers replied with little patience. "Lawson... she's who I see..."

"She's what?" Yon-Rogg asked her to repeat as if the line had been interrupted with static. "Vers. Vers, what?"

"She's a scientist," Vers rephrased her previous statement then continued her explanation, "They think that she's cracked the code on light speed tech. I have to get to her before they do, or else they'll be able to invade new galaxies."

"No," Yon-Rogg denied her request, "You've been caught once already. How far to C-53?"

Bron-Char could be heard in the background noise, answering Yon-Rogg's last question. "Closest jump point is twenty-two hours."

"Vers. Hold your position until we get there," Yon-Rogg instructed, "Keep your comms online so that we can contact you."

"No! What if they get a hold of it before—" Vers tried to protest, but the payphone disconnected, and an automated voice apologized.

"We're sorry. A long-distance company access code is required for the number you have dialed. Please dial your call with the access code."

Vers swore under her breath as she tried to get the payphone to work. "Come on..."

"Maybe I could h—"

"If you offer to help one more time..." Vers's threat tapered off as her focus returned to her communications device. However, Zaksolx understood the implication.

He quickly took a step back and raised his hands defensively out of self-preservation. "It looks like you have everything under control."

However, their minor argument distracted them from noticing the small squadron of police cars that sped down the road and parked just outside the Blockbuster store.

Richard Jarvis stretched as he opened the passenger door and stepped out of the vehicle. With a sigh, he lowered his shades down the brim of his nose before remembering the advantages that came with bringing the newbies. Without turning around to conceal his grin, he called out over his shoulder. "Hey, rookie! Go talk to the rent-a-cop."

Phil Coulson nodded his head with acknowledgement as he approached the security officer who had spoken with their out-of-world visitors, but remained safely within his vehicle. Coulson bent down to speak with the officer eye-to-eye before asking his question, "You call this in?"

The security guard quickly nodded his head and pointed in the direction of Vers and Zaksolx, who continued fruitlessly messing with the wires hanging out of the payphone. Finally giving up, Vers activated her beacon as a knock resounded on the side of the glass opposite where Zaksolx stood. Mildly curious, she turned to face the man who had boldly approached.

"Excuse me, Miss. Do you know anything about a lady and her boyfriend who went through the roof of that Blockbuster over there?" Fury asked, gesturing toward said building. "Witness says they were dressed for a laser tag date."

"Oh. Yeah." Vers played along with a nod of her head before pointing in a random direction. "I think they went that way."

She roughly grabbed Zaksolx by the shoulder in an attempt to walk away, but Fury stepped back into their path. "Ah. I'd like to ask you some questions. Maybe give you the 4-1-1 on late night drop-bys. Could I see some identification, please?"

"Vers. Kree Star Force. We don't carry identification on little cards." She tried to walk off again, guiding Zaksolx despite his complaints.

"Vers." Fury cut her off again. "Star Force? How long are you and your friend here planning on being in town?"

"Oh, we'll be out of your hair as soon as I track down the Skrulls which are infiltrating your planet," she explained nonchalantly.

"I thought your team leader said—" A single look was enough to shut Zaksolx's mouth.

"Skrulls?" Fury asked skeptically as a few other agents provided some backup.

"Shape-shifters," she replied. "They can transform into any lifeform down to the DNA. Oh boy, you guys don't have a clue do you?"

"Oh, oh, oh, oh. Hold on. How do we know that you're not one of those... shapeshifters?" Fury asked, gesturing between the pair as he referred to them.

"Congratulations, Agent Fury," Vers mockingly cheered, "You have finally asked a relevant question."

"Oh! Congratulations to you, Star Force Lady." It was clear Fury had lost his patience and whatever had been amusing him previously. "You and Starman are under arrest."

Zaksolx turned toward Vers with a raised brow. "What did he call me?"

She shrugged as Agent Jarvis stepped forward, pulling the cuffs out from one of his utility pockets to arrest them. However, from the nearby rooftop, Vers noticed a lurking Skrull. Her fist lit up without hesitation and she fired an energy blast before sprinting toward the building.

Zaksolx flinched and dropped to the ground as if the blast had been directed toward him before realizing that Vers had left him behind. Acknowledging that his options were either stay with the strangers from C-53 that intended him harm or catch up with Vers who believed him to be an ally, well it wasn't much of a question.

Fury's eyes widened in shock, but that didn't prevent him from pulling his gun from its holster before following after the pair of instigators that had turned his morning toward a more interesting direction. He called for Coulson to follow. "Rook, let's roll!"

Coulson took one last look at the chase scene unfolding before his eyes before following Fury and Jarvis back to the car. From the backseat, Richard leaned forward, "What the hell was that?"

Fury shook his head, answering the question without words before asking one of his own, "Did you see her weapon?"

Coulson looked over, surprisingly unfazed. "I did not."

The tires of the vehicle screeched as the car started and joined the scene of the chase. From the ground, Vers followed the Skrull to the nearby train station. However, just as Zaksolx caught up, she lost sight of the green creature, who taking advantage of the chaos had shifted to blend in with the rest of the crowd. Things turned from bad to worse as the train pulled out of the station before Vers could locate the imposter.

"Looks like we lost them," Zaksolx feigned disappointment underneath the pant of his breath. He straightened to catch his second wind, but released a short whine as Vers remained undetected and jumped from the platform to land on the back of the train. "Don't worry about me... I'll catch up."

He sighed and leapt after her, barely catching a foothold on the backend of the train's ledge. His arms wavered as he started to lose his balance, but an arm reached out and caught him before he could fall down onto the tracks below. He sighed with relief and offered Vers an appreciative look, but she rolled her eyes, more annoyed than not that she'd lost precious time to identify her enemy.

However, the delay provided time for Fury to catch sight of her from within his car below. He reached over and called in over the radio, "Suspect on Northbound train. In pursuit."

Richard shook his head, unconvinced that the three of them alone would be able to handle the situation. "I think we're going to need some back up."

"I'm open to suggestions, Jarvis," Fury retorted, his eyes focused on the road.

The tires screeched once more as the car swung wide around the corner into the opposite lane. Richard's eyes widened in horror as several oncoming cars slammed their horns. "You're on the wrong side of the road!"

"I'm aware, Jarvis, would you stop backseat driving?" Fury requested with a quick glance into the rearview mirror, but as he was distracted, he crashed into an oncoming car.

Aboard the train, Vers opened the back door and finally stepped inside. She slowly pressed forward as Zaksolx remained on her heels, observing each passenger.

"What are we looking for?" Zaksolx asked in confusion.

"The Skrull," Vers hissed, rolling her eyes.

"I knew that," Zaksolx snapped before clarifying, "I meant how are we supposed to find them. They're a shapeshifter."

"Just look for someone that doesn't belong," Vers retorted, finished with the conversation as she returned to her search. She paused for a brief moment to lower the manuscript of an elderly man.

"Trust me, true believer. Trust me—" He smiled at her, and she smiled back before returning to her search. The man continued his lines. "Trust me, true believer."

Zaksolx had already entered the next train car and it didn't take long for his gaze to drift toward an elderly lady he clearly remembered leaving behind at the train station. The two simply stared at one another, tilting their heads as if daring the other to break first, knowing each was wearing a mask to conceal their true identity.

Vers was less than open to playing the game as she charged forward and easily made the same connection that Zaksolx had. The elderly woman smiled, but Vers remained unfooled. No one saw her raise her fist, and no one certainly expected Vers to act on the impulse, but she didn't hesitate to punch the old woman across the face. Despite her apparent age, the old lady was spry and recovered quickly, leaping forward to force Vers back before attempting an escape. As the fight continued, several of the passengers tried to restrain Vers, unaware that the old woman wasn't who she seemed.

"She's getting away," Vers called out to Zaksolx, who had simply watched the Skrull run by. "Do something!"

"I thought you said if I offered to help one—"

"Ze-Los!" Vers shouted the name to interrupt him almost as if it were a swear.

He raised an eyebrow in confusion before the realization dawned on him. "Oh, that's me! Right." He turned and ran after the Skrull, failing to remember that when the time came he wouldn't actually be able to do much.

From below, Fury's car, a little worse for wear, continued to follow the train. Richard tried to keep the fight within his sight and couldn't help but shake his head as he watched Zaksolx clamber up onto the roof of the train, quickly followed by Vers, as the fight with the Skrull continued. "Who are these people?"

However, before he could receive a response, a piece of debris fell from the train and crashed down onto the hood. Each individual within the car jumped as if fearing for their lives. Once they had regained their composure, Coulson informed Fury of the train's path, "Train's heading for a tunnel up ahead."

"Let's greet them at the station," Fury suggested as he pulled around the corner. Horns blared as he tore across the streets, narrowly avoiding another collision.

Richard closed his eyes, covered them with his hands, and muttered a silent prayer under his breath, "Tell me when it's over."

However, as the comms crackled to life, he slowly opened his eyes in confusion. "Fury, this is Agent Colson. Umm, I'm still here at the Blockbuster and where did everybody go? I've finished collecting evidence."

Fury looked over at the man who wore the rookie agent's face. It seemed the imposter had begun to reach for his weapon, but Fury caught on quick enough to reach. While the two struggled for the gun, Richard was thrown back in his seat as Fury swerved the car. The Skrull lashed out and caught Fury by the throat, choking him while increasing the strength of his grip with the intention of crushing his larynx. As a last resort, Fury pulled into the opposite lane where an oncoming bus crashed into them. The car immediately rolled and spun off to the side of the road.

Slowly inching his way back to a seated position, Richard groaned. His entire body already ached and the sharp pain in his ribs was likely a poor sign. Meanwhile, the airbags in the front seat had gone off and it seemed that the Skrull had been killed upon impact, returning to its original form. Richard glared up at the shattered mirror where he and Fury made eye contact. "Next time... I drive."