The Cliffhanger

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Ana was humming a tune.

She walked around her apartment with the three-seater sofa in her hands and over her head. She wanted to redecorate the place and decided to switch around the furniture. It was something to do to get her mind off the horrible nightmare she just woke up from. It unsettled her. It made her skin crawl and just by thinking about it, it gave her chills. This was a good way to distract herself.

Tony had taken all of his belongings back and set them up in the Avengers Facility upstate after the whole Spider-Man and Vulture thing came to a close. As a result, Adrian Toomes was sent to prison along with the people he was going to seal a deal with on the ferry. Ana knew the rest of his crew was running around in the shadows, she only hoped they would trip and get caught by the authorities.

After setting everything up, she sat at the window sill, one leg dangling from the edge while the other was inside. She looked down at the streets below her and rested her head back against the threshold. The wind was calming her ever so slightly, brushing her hair back. Her eyelids dropped, and she let out a tired sigh.

There, the nagging in the back of her mind, it started up again. She scowled and opened her eyes, shaking her head to try and get rid of the feeling. It was maddening. The feeling of future danger looming around in the air. She could practically smell it. She just wished she could determine when and where trouble popped up.

The world didn't want her to rest. The familiar ringtone told her she had a call and she reached into her pocket. She answered it and placed it against her ear.

"Michaels."

"Ana, May knows!" Came Peter's panicked voice.

"She knows what?"

"That I'm Spider-Man! She saw me in the suit. She's freaking out and yelling and I don't know what to do!"

Ana widened her eyes. "You've got to be kidding me. Pete, I'll be there in five. Just block your ears incase she starts cursing."

"Too late." He sulked before hanging up.

Ana swung her legs back inside and went for the door, jogging hurriedly. Someone started knocking and she raised an eyebrow, wondering who it was. She twisted the doorknob and instantly beamed at the visitor.

"Hey there, stranger!"

"Hello, my old apprentice."

Carol Danvers stood at her doorstep, smiling slyly. Ana wasn't sure what it meant, but let her in nonetheless, despite the danger radar going off. The Air Force pilot was wearing navy blue track pants, white sneakers, and a red tank top. She looked like she just came back from a run. It was weird though, Ana could hear a slow and steady heartbeat. She just waved it off and guided Carol towards the kitchen.

"It's good to see you after so long, Danvers. How's it been?" Ana opened her fridge and grabbed a bottle of water, sliding it towards Carol who was opposite her on the other side of the centre island.

Carol picked up the bottle and eyed Ana. "Well, after you left the base, I did too. Things didn't go so smoothly with my supervisor, and I decided to take a vacation. A lot has happened to you though." She leaned forward, resting her elbows on the tabletop. "Care to share?"

There was a glint in her eyes that made Ana shift uncomfortably. Wong's words about trusting your gut played at the back of her mind and she acknowledged it. She casually backed into the sink and leaned against it, crossing her arms. "I, uh, is something wrong? I can't help but feel you've changed."

Carol's lips twisted. "What gave it away?"

Her tone sent shivers up Ana's spine, and she gripped the sink tightly. "The way you're looking at me, like I'm some... trophy." She drawled. She felt uncertain. She didn't know what to do. She only had to wait.

"Well, you're not wrong." Carol was right next to an array of cooking knives. Ana had to make sure she didn't set something inside 'Carol' off. She could feel the way Carol wanted to wrap her fingers around the potential weapon. "There is a price on your head."

"What in the..." Ana stood straight, dropping her crossed arms to her sides and balling her fists. Carol had picked a knife and held it in her palm, curling her fingers around the handle. Ana could see it, a flash of colour that wasn't Carol's. It went just as quickly as it came. No normal human would have noticed it, but Ana wasn't human. She was something else.

And clearly, so was Carol.

"It has been centuries since I've stumbled upon your kind. Demigods. Warriors with strength that can move mountains. In all my life, I never thought I'd see another one. It's extremely rare. I won't make that mistake again." The thing that looked like Carol was moving around the island. Ana went in the opposite direction and backed into the middle of her apartment. Her eyes flickered towards the open window, planning an escape if necessary.

"What mistake?" Ana asked.

"Keeping you alive." Carol growled animal-like.

With inhuman speed, she snapped her hand forward and sent the knife right at Ana. The brunette moved, but she was too slow. The blade lodged itself into her right shoulder and she clamped her jaw shut to keep from yelling. She was lucky though, the aim was for her heart. She could handle a shoulder wound.

Carol strolled into the main room, glancing at a photograph on the wall behind her. Ana freed the knife from her shoulder, throwing it aside. When she turned to eye Carol, she couldn't believe her eyes. One second, Carol's body was right in front of her, then when she blinked, it was Steve.

"What are you?" Ana whispered, clutching her shoulder. She had never seen anything like it. The being had taken the form of her close friend in a matter of seconds. It only had to look at an image to activate it's new self.

Steve stopped for a moment and smiled a smile that didn't suit the war hero. It unnerved her, making her grimace and forcing her to look away. She knew it wasn't him. Just some pretender.

"I am what extraterrestrial beings call a Skrull." He announced. A weight had lifted from his shoulders by those very words. He had been posing as a pilot for decades. It felt good to be free, to share his true self with someone else. Speaking of truth, Ana jumped when the Skrull reverted to his actual self, a reptilian like humanoid with a deep purple suit. She didn't know whether his strength matched hers, or if he had any other tricks up his sleeve.

"And I will be the last thing you see on this Earth."

"On the contrary..." Ana glowered. In a flash of bright light, her Sword of Light appeared and she hurled it in the Skrull's direction. He caught it, and discarded it. He broke into a run as she charged straight at him, fists in the air. They attacked each other, breaking the walls and furniture in her newly furnished apartment. The Skrull was fast and strong, and he was putting all he had to crush Ana's head. She was holding back, only because if she sent a punch at his jaw, his head would fly off and she didn't want to decapitate an alien. She was afraid if that was a sign of war to his species. These days she had to be careful of that thing. She only wanted to disarm him and knock him unconscious so she could figure out what to do with him.

Her sword lay still by the door among the wood chips and glass. By then, her home was destroyed. Blood was splattered due from her wounds and his. Furniture was broken in half. Wood splinters were everywhere. The Skrull had just been kicked in the chest, and crashed against the door, knocking it off its hinges. His body slid down the hallway wall, becoming limp. Ana shook the glass out of her hair and picked up her sword. She grimaced when blood ran down her arm, dripping onto the floor from her fingertips. The Skrull cradled his bleeding head and tried to stand. Ana immediately planted her foot over his chest and pressed down on his ribcage.

"Where did the bounty come from?" She demanded.

"I don't know." He responded, "I only know it was transmitted to every species apart from humans. Your father was a universal threat. He didn't care who or what he went to war with, as long as he wielded that sword you hold and murdered the opposition. He has killed hundreds of my kind. The single thing I can do for my people is to return the favour and kill his only daughter."

"And how's that looking up?" Ana scoffed.

"Very well." The Skrull had caught onto a sharp piece of wood, sending the tip through her stomach. Blood was drawn. Ana couldn't feel the pain at first. Shock had settled and she looked down as he removed the makeshift weapon and grinned up at her.

"Oh, you piece of shit..." She began to curse, struggling to keep the groans of pain at bay.

Ana choked on the blood that threatened to leave her mouth. Knees went weak and she stumbled back into the wall. Her vision went blurry as she tried to follow the Skrull as he walked back into the apartment. He shuffled around until he found his transmitter, the device that sent him the bounty. Ana reached up for the chain around her neck. Her Sling Ring was shakily placed on her fingers and she rolled onto her back. She had to remove her hands from the wound to create a portal.

The Skrull turned around to see what was happening and he widened his eyes when a wave of mystic energy was hurtling towards him. He was forced back into the portal Ana had made to the Quantum Realm, a place that stood out from Ancient One's teachings, and in the fray he had dropped the transmitter. She could hear his roars before the portal closed and she dropped her head back, groaning.

She made another portal, small enough for her to fit through since her hands started shaking too much. This was dangerous. She wasn't thinking straight as she made the portal. This meant she was to teleport somewhere she didn't belong. Somewhere dangerous and full of more monsters. Or she could end up in an alternate reality. A place where her world was upside down and inside out.

Where did Ana go?

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FIND OUT IN THE THIRD BOOK!

I solved my present-Carol problem. Her movie is set in the nineties and before I knew that I included her as a present character. The obvious choice was to turn her into a Skrull, one of Captain Marvel's enemies in the comics. I seriously can't wait to see them on the big screen. Anyhow, how did y'all like it? Please tell me everything and make sure you guys look into , the third and final book in my Ana Michaels series. Really though, check it out. I'm putting in some of your favourite characters as well as mine!

Q- Which Alternate Universe? Guess where she went!

(gif above is mine, just edited it from a picture.)