Regret filled the heart of the Skrull currently disguised as Mysterio. He couldn't understand why he had thought Mysterio's plan was a good idea—it seemed like a perfect opportunity to infiltrate the Avengers, but now he found himself in this unfortunate predicament.
Of course, this Skrull wasn't the only one who thought Mysterio's plan was great. From the moment he took on Mysterio's identity, the entire Mysterio team had been infiltrated by Skrulls.
In reality, Mysterio wasn't a single individual but a collaborative creation of several people. After all, the person playing Mysterio was just an ordinary human; he couldn't both perform and manage all the research and special effects simultaneously. A team worked behind the scenes to make Mysterio into a complete character.
Since Mysterio was the product of a group effort, the Skrulls naturally replaced the entire team to ensure that the disguise was flawless.
The original Skrull plan was simple: use the Mysterio identity to join the Avengers, get as close to its members as possible, and gradually introduce more Skrulls through Mysterio's recommendations.
Unfortunately, they ran into Robert, which led to the complete failure of their scheme.
The Martian Manhunter acted swiftly—or rather, the Skrull posing as Mysterio acted so quickly that the other Skrulls had no time to react. Before they could do anything, the Martian Manhunter had already captured them.
Although Skrulls are masters of disguise, they couldn't escape from the Martian Manhunter. While their transformations were difficult to detect, slipping away under his watchful eyes was an almost impossible task.
Soon enough, the Martian Manhunter had all the Skrulls in custody and brought them to Robert, who began extracting their memories.
The reason for relocating was simple: the Martian Manhunter didn't want to risk anyone interrupting him while he read their minds. It wasn't ordinary people he was worried about, but the unpredictable nature of the Flame Men made him cautious.
As for why he didn't bring the Skrulls to the Avengers' base, it was because they weren't dead yet. Allowing them to pose as Avengers—even if only in memory—was unsettling.
Among this group of Skrulls, the Martian Manhunter found something useful: contact information for other Skrull teams. Though he didn't locate the others directly, having this information would allow him to investigate further, even infiltrating their ranks.
Yes, the Martian Manhunter was preparing to infiltrate the Skrulls. After all, while Skrulls are expert shape-shifters, their abilities—except for those of the Super-Skrulls who can mimic superhuman powers—weren't necessarily superior to his.
With his mind-reading abilities, the Martian Manhunter was confident he could play the role well. As long as he didn't encounter a Flame Man, he could convincingly portray a Skrull—even a Skrull pretending to be someone else.
Who says only Skrulls can impersonate others? The Martian Manhunter, like the Avengers, could play the double agent game just as well!
When the Martian Manhunter shared his plan with Robert, the latter remained silent for a moment. He didn't oppose the plan, but instead nodded, saying quietly, "I can shape-shift too, but you're far more skilled at it. After all, you've been blending in on Earth for so many years, so you must know a few tricks of the trade."
"So, if you want to go undercover, I won't stop you. But you need to be careful, your abilities have limitations. Stay in constant contact with Jarvis, and if anything goes wrong, reach out immediately."
"I know that. But there's no rush. Let's head back, create a detailed plan, and hand these Skrulls over to Tony. He's been waiting to get his hands on them," the Martian Manhunter replied with a smile, gesturing toward the captured Skrulls.
"Alright, but first, they need to be eliminated. You can handle that," Robert responded, clearly unwilling to get involved himself. He trusted the Martian Manhunter's expertise in preserving the Skrull bodies without damage.
"No!" the Skrulls cried out in terror, realizing their fate. Their souls struggled, but under Robert's mental suppression, they couldn't escape. With a powerful wave of psychic energy, their consciousness was wiped out.
"Why did they send so many Skrulls? Wouldn't it have been enough for just one or two to infiltrate?" Robert asked, glancing at the Skrull bodies with amusement.
"They wanted to get as many agents into the Avengers as possible. Knowing how many potential roles they could impersonate, they figured it was worth sending the whole team," the Martian Manhunter explained with a shrug, levitating the Skrull corpses toward the Avengers base.
"Wardaf?!"
Seeing the bodies, Tony Stark couldn't help but curse, torn between delight and anger. He was thrilled because this batch of Skrulls was more substantial than previous ones, allowing him to restart his research. But he was furious because the Skrulls had targeted him and Pepper.
Tony couldn't help but think: if Pepper had been replaced, would he have noticed?
In theory, Tony believed he would detect something off. After all, Pepper was the person he loved most. But in reality, it was hard to say. If Skrull disguises were so easy to see through, they wouldn't be such a threat.
"Thankfully, that didn't happen," Tony sighed in relief, staring at the Skrull bodies.
"I've learned a lot from these Skrulls. But before you dive into research, let me tell you about my plan," the Martian Manhunter interrupted, gesturing for Reed Richards to hold off on his enthusiasm for research.
"Tony, even without the Skrulls, this was bound to happen. Those people the Skrulls impersonated had close ties to you."
"What? Is this like the Killian situation again?" Tony asked, eyes wide with surprise.
"Tony, what part of your 'glorious' past is this now?" Pepper asked, narrowing her eyes as she looked at him.
"Uh, let me think. Martian Manhunter, are you sure this isn't a misunderstanding?" Tony coughed awkwardly, trying to deflect.
"It's no misunderstanding," the Martian Manhunter replied seriously, but then broke into a smile. "Though it has nothing to do with your love life. The first Mysterio was one of your former employees, Quentin Beck, and the others the Skrulls replaced were also your ex-employees."
"They used to work on your holographic systems. But their work didn't meet your standards, and Beck's personality wasn't stable, so they were all fired. Naturally, they held a grudge."
"Quentin Beck? I remember him. He made quite a scene when he left, so I had him fired," Pepper recalled, shaking her head. "But what does this have to do with Tony? I was the one who gave the order to fire them!"
"Well, since they were fired by Stark Industries, they hold a grudge against Tony, as he's the face of the company," the Martian Manhunter explained with a laugh.
"So, it was all just holograms?" Tony asked, recalling the Mysterio battles.
"And some hypnotic gas, special effects, and explosives," the Martian Manhunter added, listing the tools Mysterio used. "Of course, once they got their hands on Chitauri technology, their system became much more dangerous."
"All of that, and they thought they could get into the Avengers?" Johnny Storm scoffed, echoing Robert's thoughts.
"That's why they set up a 'hero-saving-the-day' stunt to get closer to us," the Martian Manhunter replied with a shrug. "Now, let's talk about my undercover mission with the Skrulls..."
The Avengers, intrigued, quickly began refining the Martian Manhunter's plan to infiltrate the Skrulls, while Robert decided to stay out of the planning and focus on providing backup when needed.
"Do these Skrulls have any connection to the Flame Men?" Johnny asked, approaching Robert with a grin.
"No connection. The Martian Manhunter didn't find any relevant memories. The Skrulls just saw the Flame Men as an opportunity to infiltrate the Avengers," Robert explained.
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