"Watch this."
A silver streak flashed past.
Almost the instant Ward and May rounded the corner, a violent blast of air erupted. Before the four Skrull guards at the blast door could even see who had come, heavy blows struck their chests simultaneously, sending them crashing into the concrete wall like kites with severed strings. By the time they slid down, they were motionless.
A dazzling burst of sparks erupted from the lock of the ten-centimeter-thick blast door. Pietro's figure solidified before it, a hydraulic locking bolt he had ripped apart dangling from his hand.
"Done. Door's open." Pietro looked back and raised an eyebrow at Coulson.
Ward tightened his grip on his pistol and strode into the room.
A complex ring-shaped apparatus stood in the center of the room, covered in flashing green lights and shifting streams of data. Unidentified glowing tissue soaked in the culture dish at its center. Beside the apparatus, a young woman in a stained white lab coat was strapped tightly to an iron chair, her hair disheveled.
"Rosa!" Coulson hurried forward, drew his tactical knife, and cut the restraints.
Rosa jerked her head up, revealing a bloodless face. Her eyes were bloodshot, her pupils dilated to their limit. She had bitten her lips to shreds, and her mouth was full of blood blisters.
"Kill me... please... kill me..." Rosa screamed incoherently, clawing frantically at her neck hard enough to leave bloody scratches. "They put something inside... there are bugs crawling in my brain! They're eating my memories!"
Watching Rosa's frenzy, Skye couldn't help taking half a step back, her heart tightening. Was this what happened to people who fell into the Skrulls' hands?
"Get her out!" Coulson hoisted the delirious Rosa up. "Pietro, carry her straight back to the car!"
Pietro dropped his flippant