Every so often, I get a wild hair and dive back into "Mighty Max". It is never far from my heart, but my 'fic output for it tends to be very sporadic. Anyways, I love Virgil like crazy, particularly how he plies himself with guilt and all sorts of other good stuff over the Mighty One. I know the "five things" format isn't exactly original, but there isn't one for "MM" fandom yet, so there is that.
Summary: Virgil experiences many triumphs and tribulations as the Mighty One's mentor. Rated PG. Spoilers for the entire series.
Five Times Virgil Failed the Mighty One, and One Time He Didn't
1.
He cursed himself immediately for so carelessly dropping details of the original Capbearer's final battle with Skullmaster into his story. He'd wanted Max to understand and respect his role as the present Mighty One better. Instead, the boy was scared of the implications. He reacted obstinately, and Virgil was forced to flee with the Cap.
He knew he couldn't destroy it. The nonetheless ordinary-looking artifact had proven its invincibility many times over. Holding it up in the middle of a storm had been a death wish. Hearing Mighty Max's voice over the roar of Skullmaster's soulless zombie minions had been a double-edged sword: He hadn't wanted the boy to follow, and yet, he'd apparently needed to know that he was worth saving.
An eye for an eye, then. "I don't want you to die," he pleaded, an unhappy confession. In response, the boy brazenly grabbed up Norman's sword, and jumped over the cliff they were perched on, opening a portal and effectively freeing them of Skullmaster's minions. The moments between thinking he was dead, and realizing that Max had effectively stuffed Norman's sword into the rock face and wound himself around the handle were agonizing. He reacted mockingly to the Mighty One's sarcasm - they were on even ground again, after all (metaphorically, at least). In his heart of hearts, however, Virgil knew he would revisit Max's decision to jump (Maximus had jumped, too) in his dreams, over and over again.
2.
He'd known they were going to die. The Chamber of Destiny had made it more than clear, months before their encounter. It was the first time since discovering the panel detailing Norman's death that the Mighty One's mentor and guardian had mutually decided not to talk about something that had been foretold. That the Capbearer was preternaturally obsessed with his role in their demise from the moment Virgil had suggested combining forces with the four heroes did nothing to assuage his guilt. Destiny was cruel sometimes.
"We could have saved them." It was the first thing Max had said since they'd begun plodding through the Australian outback towards home. The air was dry and unforgiving. They'd made this journey before, Max still riding the high of esCaping the underworld with his head attached; the boy had clamored for a piggy-back ride nearly nonstop until Norman finally acquiesced, lugging him the rest of the 50-mile journey to the next portal.
Today, Max refused Norman's offer to be carried. He intentionally shuffled a set number of paces behind Virgil and Norman, lips pressed in a thin white line, the Cap tugged low across his brow. If anyone stopped to allow him to catch up, he would stubbornly slow his pace. Besides the ash on his white sneakers and a handful of cuts and bruises - normal fare for an encounter with Skullmaster - the Capbearer clutched Hanuman s helmet, the soft metal dented by Skullmaster's hand during the Monkey King's ultimate sacrifice. He hung his head, the very portrait of one with the weight of the world upon his shoulders.
Virgil could offer only platitudes, but Max had made it abundantly clear that they weren't welcome, so he said nothing. Miserably, he plodded alongside Norman, squinting into the unforgiving sun, and hoping the Mighty One would one day forgive him.
3.
In his mind, he tried to prepare himself for the Mighty One's reaction: The anger, the confusion, the hurt. He could never have anticipated his own gut-wrenching reaction to the sheer pain on the boy's face when he appeared alongside Skullmaster. "A partnership," the overlord had termed it, a new alliance to celebrate an old friendship.
When the Mighty One manhandled Magus into a weapon, Norman loyally in tow, Virgil felt his heart warm. If Max hated him forever for his apparent defection but survived this encounter, it would be worth it. He knew he couldn't count on Skullmaster to keep his word not to kill the boy - on the contrary, he sensed the insincerity in his former pupil's reluctant agreement to spare Max the moment it was uttered. He had to have faith, ergo, that fate would be on Mighty Max's side, even when his mentor apparently wasn't.
When the moment of destiny finally arrived, Virgil watched the Capbearer's young face express a kaleidoscope of emotions: Fury, demanding Virgil's gall after declaring him a "stinking traitor"; relief that the fowl had not steered him wrong after all; and then, horror, when Skullmaster swooped down and threatened (promised) to snap his mentor's neck for his treachery.
From the very real threat that Skullmaster posed with his bare hands, to Magus' torpedo that Max had aimed at them, to the lava bubbling below, Virgil knew it was his time to die. And then he didn't. And though he railed at the boy for his refusal to accept a destiny that would make all their lives (and deaths) easier, he could tell, staring into Max's bright, blue eyes that he would never be sacrificed for the greater good. He would learn to accept that, he decided.
4.
He did not anticipate Max attempting to take on Skullmaster himself. In his urgency to understand the circumstances that had brought Maximilian to them, he was, admittedly, too absorbed in his own thoughts to notice what the other boy was doing.
Watching Max dangle helplessly from Skullmaster's clawed grip, Virgil immediately blamed himself. Obviously, his sudden hesitance to consider Max the Mighty One had spurred the boy to reckless action. Virgil knew that Max hadn't run the plan by him first because he didn't know that he could trust Virgil anymore. It was a sobering thought. He vowed, should they survive, that he would not give Max a reason to distrust him again.
It didn't surprise him that Skullmaster's sights were set on the Arcana. His former student had always had a keen sense for ferreting out secrets, and the book represented a considerable portion of Lemuria's power. Rejoining the Crystal of Souls, ghastly as it was, would be but one use that Skullmaster found for the ancient tome. The villain's eyes burned red as he gazed upon the book, triumphant that his bullying had not led Virgil to deceive him. In contrast, Max's gaze was clear and wide. He did not need to know precisely what the book could do to realize that Skullmaster should not possess it.
Ironically, it was Skullmaster's off-handed assurance that Max was, indeed, the Mighty One that ultimately restored the boy's confidence in his own destiny. From there, fate and quick-thinking succeeded where Virgil had failed to ensure the safety of both his boy and the Arcana - part of it, at least. It was, he thought ruefully, more than he deserved.
Virgil idled behind Max and Norman on the journey home. The two spoke animatedly; Norman had never given up hope, even for a moment, that Mighty Max was the true Capbearer. From his joy, their bond grew stronger than ever. Politely, Max threw Virgil a bone in conversation every once in a while out of necessity. Otherwise, he was withdrawn, embarrassed.
'He is alive. He accepts what he is. He will fulfill his destiny. I know that, now.' He pretended to study his scroll. Everything else was irrelevant. 'He does not have to like me.'
5.
They had planned it out meticulously over the centuries. No detail was left unaccounted for. Norman knew how he would die, and Virgil knew he could not let Max interfere.
The boy's grief was immediate. Virgil's heart pounded as a primal scream ripped from the Mighty One's throat. He was not surprised that Max was angry at him. His immediate instinct was to comfort; and then Skullmaster taunted them smugly from the mists, one step ahead, and his mind and body immediately switched to protection-mode. 'Keep him safe. He is precious.'
That Max obediently fled to the Astral Plane was uncharacteristic: Still grieving, he blindly trusted Virgil's judgment. As he traded barbs with his old enemy and watched the sun settle over Stonehenge, the fowl beseeched whichever deity would listen to keep the Mighty One safely ensconced in the one place that Skullmaster could not reach him. In spite of his wishes, neither he nor the gloating overlord was all that surprised when the boy showed, or that he refused to leave without Virgil.
'He's precious. He won't sacrifice you. He will fulfill his destiny.'
All of the Capbearer's pent-up emotions came out while trying to break the energy rings that kept his mentor imprisoned. More than once, Virgil heard him mutter something about "if Normy were here." In spite of his anger and frustration, however, they refused to budge, ruled by a power greater than his own.
When Skullmaster pressed the jagged edge of his sword against Virgil's neck, time stood still. The Mighty One's movements were automatic: Taking off the Cap, extending his arm pleadingly. It would be over soon.
'I have failed.'
The energy rings evaporated. Virgil fell, and the Mighty One helped him to stand. They shared a glance, one that said everything and nothing at once, and then Skullmaster was upon them.
1.
When Virgil died, the Mighty One screamed as though his heart was breaking. He'd been running all day, Norman's demise already weighing heavy and raw across his heart. Blindly, he ran towards Skullmaster, wanting to cause him pain, needing an outlet to express his grief.
He was not surprised to be quickly apprehended. Struggling in Warmonger's grip, he listened to Skullmaster gloat, comprehending, as his arch-nemesis wished, what he had done by giving up the Cap. He watched Skullmaster kill his loyal henchman with a mixture of sympathy and numbness - so many people would die because of him, now.
The thought stirred something in him. When Skullmaster came for him, the Crystal of Souls poised to do its job yet again, Mighty Max did something unexpected: He jumped out of the way. The same blast that had left him unable to save Virgil sent him flying backwards. His head connected with one of the giant stone blocks, and he was momentarily stunned. However, his attention was soon fully redirected to Skullmaster, now standing in the direct-center of Stonehenge. The rays from the crystal enveloped him; also, he was pretty sure the Cap had changed shape.
'Without the Cap, I'm useless,' the boy thought. And then: 'But I've saved people without it before. The Cap isn't the source of my destiny. I am.' The words were vaguely familiar; desperately, he wracked his brain for their exact origin. "What was it Virgil once said?" he muttered, and suddenly, his mentor's voice enveloped him warmly, if only for a moment: "'Every person has a gift, and in that gift lies their destiny.'"
'My gift isn't the Cap,' Max thought, his heart pounding with adrenaline. 'It's me. My spirit. The Cap just enhances everything. I'm still the Mighty One without it. I can still make things right.' He stood up. "Here goes nothin'," he murmured aloud, and then ran towards the center of circular stones to meet his fate.