This is a one-shot taking place right after the events of "Armageddon Outta Here," starting from the moment Max put the cap back on. WARNING: Spoilers from the end of the series!!
If you like the story, you should check out my (in progress, I promise!) Mighty Max/Mummies Alive cross-over posted in the Mummies Alive forum. I'm almost done with chapter 2, and I'll get it up soon. In the meantime, there are more one-shots to come.
Oh, and FYI there is to be NO implication of slash or sexuality in this fic. I realize I'm describing a bit of actual affection between characters, but, for goodness sake, you only need to watch about 4 episodes to figure out that these three are more like family than anything else. This is the intimacy of true friendship, not to be confused with lust or sex or anything along those lines. Just sayin'. (I figured I'd cut that thinking off at the pass, so to speak…)
I don't own Max, Virgil, Norman, or the rest of the "Mighty Max" series. If I did, it would be released on DVD by now! This is just for fun and because this is an all-time great show. Enjoy!
The familiar rush of power flowed through Max as he settled the Cap on his head, and this time he was supremely grateful for the feeling. The first time, he had been confused and rather nervous about the whole experience. But now, knowing what he did, knowing that Virgil and Norman were still alive, knowing he had the chance to do everything over again, it was the best he had ever felt in his life.
"Here I come, guys!" he shouted, racing to his bike to meet the lava monster he knew would be waiting for him at the Mini-Mart. As he navigated the familiar streets of his hometown, knowing everything to come for months in advance, he was surprised to find that instead of anticipating with relish all the things he could now predict, from test answers to who would win the big football game, instead his thoughts kept trailing back to his last moments with Skullmaster.
"I'm gonna get it right this time," Max said to himself, shuddering. He had almost failed the world, not to mention his friends. He had given up the Cap, trying to save Virgil, and, as he should have known, Skullmaster betrayed him and killed the noble fowl anyway. It was with a desperate pain that Max had overcome his self-doubts once and for all.
"He killed them both," he had thought to himself, too in shock to even mourn. "I've got to stop him." Virgil's words from long ago had come back to him, and he knew then, knew in a way he had never really understood before, what it really meant being the Mighty One. It wasn't about the annoyance of having an afternoon of fun interrupted to save the world. It wasn't about the glory or the high of being a hero. Being the Mighty One was a responsibility to protect the world from people like Skullmaster, no matter what it took. With the image of Virgil and Norman, dead to protect him before his eyes, he had thrown himself onto the staff of the Crystal of Souls and willed his inborn power to save them all: his friends, his mom, his people, and his world.
"I expected to die," Max realized with a start. He had indeed told Skullmaster that even if he couldn't save the world, he would die trying. And, as he thought back on it, he knew he had meant it. Now if only he knew how it was that he had survived…
-- -- --
It sure was useful knowing what the future held ahead of time. It meant this time around, he had advance warning as to where exactly where the lava-beast would be and how it would act. He even knew which portal he needed to use to get to where Virgil and Norman were waiting for him in Mongolia. And, unexpectedly, Max's body remembered the adventures he had had, or would have in the future anyway, and his reflexes were at their best. So evading the monster and reaching the portal was much easier. Indeed, when he saw it light up in front of him, it seemed easy-going compared to the first time he'd tried to hit a portal from a bike going as fast as he could pedal on top of a fence. Even if this was, technically, the first time.
As he fell through the conduit of ancient power, Max felt almost like cheering. Never until the very end there with the Crystal of Souls and all existence hanging in the balance had he wanted to be the Mighty One. Never had he wanted the responsibility, the annoying summons, the pressure of having to save the world once a week. But now he did want it, and he wanted to get started right away. He knew it would still be hard to be a hero, to give up life as a regular kid for the sake of people he would never meet, but now he knew that it was worth it anyway. Heroism really was its own reward.
"Mighty One!" Virgil rejoiced as Max shot out of the portal and landed neatly on his feet after a forward roll, a trick he had finally perfected. The ancient fowl was smiling more widely than Max had ever known him to, and Norman's face was…wet.
"Virgil! Norman! I…I'm so glad you're alive," Max said, an uncharacteristic lump suddenly filling his throat at the sight of two he had thought he had lost. Without knowing he was going to do it, the boy suddenly lurched forward and threw his arms around Norman's waist, leaning his head against the chest-armor he knew so well.
"You died for me," he said, shoulders shaking, and somehow his voice sounded much younger and more vulnerable. Norman, surprised at the unexpected sincerity from his friend, stood quite still for a moment, then dropped an arm around him and held him.
"I did. And I would do it again. And you'd do the same for me, Mighty One," he said softly, ignoring the few tears that slipped from his own weathered eyes. In spite of his brutish appearance, Norman was a deeply loyal and feeling individual, moved by those to whom he had given his heart. Max had quickly become a part of Norman's life, just as Virgil was, and the great warrior looked to the boy with a combination of fatherly and brotherly affection, as well as the intense commitment of a knight to his liege-lord. He could never admit it, but he loved Max very much and was incredibly glad to see him alive and safe again.
"I know, and I almost did, big guy" Max said ashamedly, turning then to Virgil. The wise Lemurian was looking on his young charge with something very warm in his eyes. "Virg, you were right. I never should have trusted Skullmaster. I…I got you killed. It was all my fault for not listening to you. I'm sorry," the hero boy mumbled, stepping way from the protecting hug of his Guardian with his head down.
"I told you the first time we met that I was very wise, didn't I?" Virgil said, putting out a feathery hand and grasping Max's shoulder with a tight grip that spoke volumes. "Maybe this time you'll remember that." But behind the words was a smile, albeit a chiding one, and Max couldn't help but return it ruefully. Virgil was always short on expressing feelings, but his face and voice and hand said enough. The boy's fears and scars started to mend themselves in the face of his teacher whom he had thought he had lost. It was an honest relief having both Virgil and Norman back at his side. Max cherished the moment, before curiosity got the best of him and spoiled it. As usual.
"Virgil, what happened? I mean, one minute I'm on a merry-go-round of time with Skullmaster than then we're here, back in the past. What's going on?"
"Well, it appears you altered the balance of the universe. Again. And in so doing, the Cosmic Cap answered the competing projections of temporal forces and sided with destiny."
"English, Virg?"
"Well, in short, when you grabbed ahold of the Crystal of Souls, which you must have done, the power of the cosmos that Skullmaster was trying to control was instead cycled to you. The power was yours to command, not his, because it was yours by right as the Mighty One. As you did not possess the necessary knowledge to consciously affect the flow of time, the raw power of the universe instead granted the desire of your heart, to set things right and thus save the world. Only the true Cap-Bearer could have done it. Do you understand who you are now, Mighty Max?" Virgil's voice was firm, and a challenge rang in it, one that echoed dozens of fights that would never now take place.
"Yeah, I do," Max said, reaching up to touch the familiar Cap. "It's not the Cap that made me the Mighty One, it's just kind of a perk, isn't it?"
"Precisely. It is the spirit within you that makes you the Mighty One. With or without the Cosmic Cap, you have been and always will be a destined hero. The universe recognized that, and it answered you."
"So, you're saying that since I'm the Mighty One that the universe's power decided to give me what I wanted? Cool! But why couldn't it have included a couple of video games in the bargain?" Max joked, uncomfortable with the implication that he was so special. Even understanding his place as he did now, he still felt like a pretty normal kid.
"Essentially, yes. Except the part about the video games, of course."
"Then why do we remember what happened? I mean, if we're starting over, shouldn't we have forgotten everything?"
"Well, perhaps, but remember that we three are marked with destiny, Mighty One. Norman is your appointed Guardian and I am your guide and teacher. Therefore, from the moment you accepted your own destiny, you set ours into motion as well. It stands to reason that those of us so affected would remain unchanged in time's flow, as will Skullmaster. It is part of the balance of good and evil, of knowledge and destiny, for us all to share in it," Virgil said, idly scratching something in the dirt as he spoke. It looked like math and probably only made sense to a physics genius. Max tried not to attempt to translate it; it would inevitably give him a homework-headache.
"Okay, I can get that, but…" Max hesitated. He had a burning question he was very afraid to ask. However, having rarely let fear guide him before, he took a deep breath and continued around a twist in his stomach, "Does that mean that you'll have to…you know, die again? I mean, do we have go through that all over again?" He looked worriedly at Norman.
"No, Mighty One," the Guardian said with a small smile and an obvious tone of relief in his voice.
"Norman is correct, Mighty Max. You see, in a way, part of the prophecy has now been fulfilled. It was written that Norman was to perish protecting you from Skullmaster, and he has. It was written that I would die at the same time as Skullmaster's defeat, and I did." At this, Virgil shuddered and Max decided not to ask what it felt like to die. "Thus, all has passed as it should. Now, we are back at the beginning with only one prophecy left unfulfilled."
"Me beating Skullmaster into bone-dust." Max nodded. "So, does that mean that this time around I won't have to worry about killing you to get him? And neither of you will have to die?" Max asked, hesitantly looking at his friends. Truth be told, he never ever wanted what had happened to them to happen again.
"Exactly. And yes, it seems that we are no longer bound to those destinies. I would say we have a much clearer path now with a single goal in mind, without the consequences for Norman and myself."
"That's the best thing I've ever heard," Max said sincerely. Then, shaking off the edge of doom that had followed him ever since putting the Cap on for the first time, again, he threw out his arms and smiled.
"So, what are we waiting for? Let's go get that bone-head!"
"I love it when he says that," Norman smiled savagely.
"It is our pleasure to follow your will," Virgil said, bowing with an ironic smirk. He began to lead the way to the portal that would take them on their round-about way back to Max's house.
"And guys?" Max asked, walking this time with great confidence alongside his friends, "this time, when we open the basement, can we NOT tear a big hole in the wall? Mom was peeved about that."
"As you wish, Mighty One."
As the three jumped into the portal to Egypt, Max found himself shouting. The first time he had done this, he had shouted in confusion and terror. But this time, Norman and Virgil alive and well beside him, neither to die anytime in the near future if he did his part, Max could only feel the excited joy of knowing everything was going to be all right. There were no words for the feeling of being given that second chance, no way he could ever explain how good it felt to be the Mighty One, how much he cared about his friends.
So, in typical fashion, he shouted the first thing that came to mind.
"Cowabunga!"