"Since Homelander said so…"
"Yeah. As long as he's there, everything will be fine."
"Thank God we still have Homelander."
On Twitter, #TrustHomelander skyrocketed to the number one trending topic—completely burying #PutStarkOnTrial.
Antony stood beneath the flood of flashing cameras, basking in the adoration he knew so well.
He turned and glanced at Tony.
Tony looked back at him, his expression complicated—gratitude… and something close to reverence.
"Thank you," Tony said quietly.
In that moment, he suddenly felt that maybe only Homelander deserved that kind of thunderous applause.
He himself? Just a reckless billionaire who kept creating disasters.
Starr… Homelander… you're the real hero.
"Don't mention it, Tony."
Antony switched off the mic and lowered his voice so only the two of them could hear.
"Just remember."
"You owe me. A big one."
Then he turned, cape sweeping dramatically, and strode offstage.
He left behind a silhouette of +50% charisma and absolute reliability.
System Prompt:
Popularity +10,125
Popularity +12,138
Popularity +9,097
…
"I hereby announce—The Avengers are disbanded, effective immediately."
Click.
A pale hand pressed the remote.
The television went dark.
A single eye narrowed.
A cold smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
"Disbanded?"
"You think you have the right to disband it, Stark?"
"The name was mine."
"The team was mine."
"When you were playing with models in your Malibu mansion, I was drafting the list."
"When you were hammering scrap metal in a cave, I was planning the future."
"You were just a tool I selected."
Nick Fury rose from his chair and walked to the liquor cabinet, pouring himself a glass of whiskey.
"I pulled you freaks out of every corner of the globe."
"I gave you a home."
"I gave you a purpose."
"You don't get to end it."
He downed the glass in one burning swallow.
"If you won't be an Avenger…"
He turned slowly, staring at the man kneeling in the corner, wrists bound behind his back.
"…then I'll be the last Avenger."
…
"Great monologue. Really. If I had popcorn and cola, I'd even pay for a ticket."
John Garrett sat cuffed, bruised but unbroken.
S.H.I.E.L.D. Level 8 agent.
Or rather—HYDRA senior leader.
He studied the unfamiliar white man before him carefully. Garrett had endured advanced anti-interrogation training, yet none of this made sense.
Just moments ago, this white-haired stranger had berated him in Nick Fury's exact tone for half an hour.
"I don't know where you crawled out from, pal," Garrett smirked, blood at the corner of his lips. "But that voice… that smug superiority… reminds me of an old friend. Down to the part where I wanted to spit in his face."
"You think I'm an imitator?" Fury stepped closer, looking down at him.
"What else?" Garrett shrugged. "That guy was Black. Not some redneck."
"…You're just a mentally unstable American with identity issues."
Fury said nothing.
He only stared.
From the shadows, footsteps echoed softly.
A figure in full S.H.I.E.L.D. tactical gear stepped into the light.
Garrett looked up—
And nearly choked.
It was him.
The slicked-back hair.
The crooked half-smile.
Even the faint shaving nick from last night.
"Sir," the duplicate Garrett said in an identical voice, "deployment is complete."
"Good," Fury nodded.
The duplicate's face rippled like disturbed water.
Green scales emerged.
Pointed ears.
Within seconds, he transformed into a green-skinned Skrull.
Garrett's mind raced.
As a HYDRA executive, he knew secrets. Many secrets.
But not this.
"I see…" Garrett exhaled slowly.
He believed he had figured it out.
"So that's your trump card, Fury."
His eyes gleamed with contempt.
"To avoid being hunted, you turned yourself white?"
"To regain power, you allied with aliens?"
"You're replacing human leadership with these green freaks, aren't you? Just like they impersonated me."
"You want to turn Earth into an alien colony—with you as puppet governor."
He spat blood onto the floor.
"Compared to HYDRA… you're the real traitor."
Fury poured himself another drink without reacting.
"Imaginative, John," he said calmly. "If you'd used that imagination for something worthwhile, maybe you wouldn't be here."
Garrett leaned back against the wall, still smirking.
"Don't lecture me about righteousness. We're both intelligence men."
"HYDRA. S.H.I.E.L.D."
"Same goal."
"Order."
"HYDRA wanted absolute control to enforce absolute order."
"And you?"
"You're handing Earth to aliens."
Garrett subtly flexed his right wrist.
Beneath the skin was a micro-transceiver implant.
By contracting specific muscle fibers, he transmitted Morse code bursts.
Encrypted signals flowed silently outward.
…
ALERT: Nick Fury alive. Altered appearance (white male, approx. 50s, one eye).
ALERT: Confirm extraterrestrial involvement. Green skin. Perfect mimicry.
Hypothesis: Fury has betrayed humanity. Intent: assist alien infiltration through replacement.
Directive: All cells, verify identities. Reset recognition codes.
Ward—wherever you are—bring your team. Search within these coordinates. Stop him. For humanity.
Hail HYDRA.
…
Garrett knew he likely wouldn't survive this.
But he could stall.
Transmit.
Warn.
Earth must not fall to aliens—
That was HYDRA's asset.
"So? Nothing to say?" Garrett taunted loudly, masking the minute wrist movements.
"You think a new face cleans your sins?"
"Look outside! Tony Stark surrendered! Captain America is filming commercials!"
"Your era is over!"
"You're just an obsolete relic, hiding with alien scum and dreaming of restoration!"
Fury watched him without anger.
Beside him, the Skrull held a receiver device, quietly capturing every outgoing pulse.
Every frequency.
Every code.
Fury swirled his whiskey.
"Finished?"
Garrett's smile faltered slightly.
Fury set the glass down.
"John."
He stepped closer.
"You really think you're the only one who understands infiltration?"
He turned to the Skrull.
"Have we mapped the signal path?"
"Yes, Director," the Skrull replied.
"Full routing confirmed."
Fury's one eye gleamed.
"Excellent."
He looked back at Garrett.
"You're right about one thing."
"I am replacing people."
Garrett's grin widened.
"I knew it."
Fury's voice dropped.
"But not with aliens."
"With better humans."
He leaned in.
"And thanks to you…"
"I just found the rest of HYDRA."
Garrett's expression froze.
Fury straightened.
"Send the data."
The Skrull pressed a control pad.
Encrypted HYDRA frequencies, cell locations, and signal relays unfolded in layered holographic projections.
Garrett had just exposed them all.
"You called me a traitor," Fury said quietly.
"But you were the one transmitting."
He picked up his glass again.
"You were never protecting Earth, John."
"You were protecting HYDRA."
"And that's why…"
Fury's voice went cold.
"You're the real traitor."
Garrett's breathing grew shallow.
For the first time—
He wasn't smiling.
Outside, the world was chanting Homelander's name.
Inside this dim room—
A silent war had just shifted.
And HYDRA had no idea—
It had just lost the board.
--------------
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