Carol always loved flying. The feeling of taking off, flying high above the ground and charted territory. She couldn't remember a time when the yoke didn't feel natural in her hands. The skies were as beautiful as they were uncharted, plus there was never any rush hour traffic in the air. Conversations never really felt forced on aircrafts either, in fact, you could be on an aircraft with someone and not say a word without it getting awkward. Sometimes it was nice to just look out the window and take it all in. And there was a heck of a lot to take in in space. Kamala gazed in awe at the clusters of stars that surrounded them.
"Oh my god." She said breathlessly, "OhmyGod,OhmyGod,OhmyGod."
Carol smiled at her, "Is this your first time in space?"
"Yeah, this is my first time out of New Jersey! And on any kind of plane for that matter." She held her phone up to the glass and took a picture of the scene.
Kamala's dark hair was pushed behind her shoulders. Shadows crossed over her face, not making her features look older, but instead more mature. Her warm, brown eyes were filled with wonder and curiosity, rather than innocence. And her suit…
"I like the lightning bolt."
Kamala blushed, "That means the world coming from you!"
A button on her left flashed, signaling the ship was ready to jump, "Hey kiddo, you're going to want to hold on to something."
Using her arm as if it were a rope, Kamala tied it in a knot around a metal bar attached to the side of the ship near the window.
The ship lurched forward as it jumped across space. They reappeared on the other side of the galaxy.
"Do you ever feel like that's kind of like entering hyperspace in Star Wars?" Kamala asked grinning.
Carol nodded, "Absolutely. Star Wars is still the thing that I don't know how I lived without in space! My parents even had a cat named Chewie when I was a kid."
"Oh my gosh. That's awesome." She sighed, "Man, the originals were so good! I mean, I like Rey and BB-8 and all, but,"
"Hold up, they made new ones?"
"Yeah, we're on episode eight!"
"Crap." Carol muttered, "I'm really behind!"
"It's ok; they're not as good as the originals."
She laughed, "You know, when all this is over, we should have a big movie night and watch them!"
Kamala gasped, "An Avengers movie night?! Oh my gosh! That's every fanfiction writer's dream come true!"
She raised a brow at her, "Fanfiction?"
"Wait! No, no, no it's not what you think!" Kamala began frantically, but Carol laughed.
"No, I know. You don't seem like you're that kind of fanfiction writer."
She gave a light laugh, "Well… my parents always complain about it saying that's all I do, which is physically impossible and also considering my life, is not all I do." Her face fell as she mentioned them and trialed off, "… Or they used to at least."
Carol slid her hand over Kamala's and lightly squeezed it, "We'll get them back."
She nodded. Had been put in her position, Carol would've done the same thing. That didn't make it fair though. Carol had lost her life and started over, but how could she be sure if Kamala lost her's, she would be so lucky?
However, one of the most ironic things they had in common is that they were different. Kamala was unlike any kid she had come across. For one thing, she was brave, and that was the most important quality in any hero in her book. It made sense why the kid was an Avengers fangirl. She could fend for herself, but in the short amount of time Carol had known her, she wanted to do whatever she could to keep her from Thanos's deathly clutches.
"Hey, is Smash Mouth still the greatest band ever?" Carol asked out loud this time.
"Oof." Kamala laughed, "I think the title of 'greatest band ever' goes to Panic! At the Disco, but Smash Mouth is pretty cool too. I have their Astro Lounge album!"
The next thing Carol knew, she and Kamala were belting out the lyrics of All Star along with the track on Kamala's phone.
They had reached it at last. Ronan the Accuser's search for the power stone had led them to this place when she was a member of Star Force. Thanos came here, publicly displaying his power and his goal by gathering the entire population of the planet, splitting them apart, and then murdering half of them. Rumors had been said that his daughter, Gamora, was originally from this very planet.
Carol didn't like the feel of the place. It was an eerie kind of peaceful. The grass flourished and swayed in the light breeze. It was impossible to tell that a horrific massacre had ever occurred on this planet. But that's what Thanos had been doing this whole time, right? Glorifying deaths and murdering people for a better future.
Kamala squinted in the light of the rising sun, "Ok, this place is way too quiet. Did you think it was going to be, like, a post-apocalyptic society or something, or was that just me?"
"Yeah… Remember where we parked the spaceship."
She started off towards the forest and flew through the trees. Kamala grew taller and broke through them beneath her. On the other side of the forest, a bright green field, hundreds of acers wide, stretched out before them.
"Oh my gosh!" Kamala cried.
Carol whipped around in time to see Kamala crush something embedded in a heavily armored, metal suit. The remains were scattered on the ground, including a long, wood post.
"Scarecrow." She sighed, "I knew that."
Carol landed on the ground next to her, turning over the helmet, "Battle armor. We're close."
Kamala scrunched up her face in confusion, "Yeah. Farmer Thanos. That's the first thing I would do after I murdered half the universe too."
Off in the distance, there was something that looked like a small, wooden hut. A slight chill filled the air around them.
"Stay on alert, Kamala."
The closer they got to the hut, the slower they approached it from behind. It didn't have a door, just an open gap that could overlook the field. Carol's clenched fist began to glow as she prepared to ambush whatever horror was inside. Suddenly, she paused at the cold touch of Kamala's hand on her forearm. Carol turned around to face the young girl, her hand trembling on Carol's arm. Kamala's brown eyes blinked back at her, looking slightly embarrassed.
"Oh, um, I'm sorry." She whispered.
Carol placed her non-glowing hand on the back of Kamala's shoulder, "What's wrong kiddo?"
She closed her eyes, "I'm scared. I'm sorry. I'm not fearless, like you, or Captain America, or,"
"Hey, look at me." Kamala opened her eyes and Carol pulled her into a hug with her free arm, "Don't be sorry. There's no such thing as fearless. Everyone's afraid of something, and if you're not afraid of facing a psychopath who murdered half the universe, then you're not alive. I don't know many people who are entirely fearless, but you can be brave. You just have to do it in spite of fear. Can you do that for me?"
She nodded and whispered, "Thank you."
Carol counted down from three on her fingers and then they burst into the hut, "Show yourself!"
The rising sun highlighted the dust floating about the air. Every nerve in her body warned her of a danger that didn't appear to be there, but she could sense something was there, hiding in plain sight. Fist still glowing, she approached the stand in the center of the room.
"Is that…" Kamala started.
Carol nodded. It was demolished, as Thor had said, but each Infinity Stone gave off a faint light of its own signature color.
Kamala walked around the stand, "He would just leave it out in the open, not unless…" She trailed off.
Carol noticed that the red reality stone was giving off a pulsating light.
"Kamala! We have to,"
Carol was cut off by Kamala's cry of, "Oh my God!"
On the other side of the bed, the remains of the Mad Titan lay in a pool of purple blood.
"Come on! We don't have much time!"
Carol and Kamala turned to find Thanos menacingly standing in the threshold of the hut. The scene reset around them in a flash of red, carrying the gauntlet and the tattered corpse away with it.
"Crud." Carol muttered.
"Reality can be…" He paused, "Deceiving."
Kamala balled her hands up into fists. Carol pointed her glowing one at him.
"You have the guts to attempt the change reality." He gave a humorless laugh, "It will make killing you disappointing."
"Can't say the same for you." Carol remarked.
"I must admit. I did not know you were an Avenger."
Carol hesitated, "I'm not."
Thanos smiled, "You were a good solider for the kree."
"Which is why I'm not one anymore. I would pick being a good person over being a good solider."
She fired an energy blast that Thanos counteracted with a blast from the gauntlet. A bright light erupted from where the two beams met in the middle. Kamala ducked around them to get behind Thanos. She tried to pull away his arm with the gauntlet, however, he grabbed her by her lengthened arm and tossed her with great force over his shoulder. The explosion from the two energy forces had demolished the hut.
Carol flew up in the air to catch her, lowering her to the ground, then taking a fiery punch at the Mad Titan. He was flung backwards and wore a look of shock that morphed into determination.
"I'd say come at me bro, but I have a feeling you're going to do that anyway." Kamala wittily commented, enlarging her fist.
She swung at Thanos and he hit her back. Hard.
Both of Carol's fists turned a vibrant, glowing orange. She punched the Titan across the face, then flew up in the air before the speeding to the ground, a burst of radiant energy threw him back as she hit the ground.
This time, he looked infuriated. He lurched at her, grabbing her by the shoulders. She grabbed his hand without the gauntlet and skillfully ducked under his arm. Then, she pressed his arm behind his back and energy blasted him in the face.
"Pin him down, Kamala!"
Kamala stretched her limbs, using them as ropes to tie down the Mad Titan. Carol placed a firm hand over his chest, her free arm glowing. Just as she was about to beat the crap out of him, she noticed the blue space stone was glowing steadily.
"Carol! Behind you!" Kamala cried.
Carol spun around to see the gigantic moon about to crash down on them. She flew through the air like a rocket and caught it. Planting both hands on it, teeth gritted, she forced it back up into the sky. However, as soon as the moon was safety out of the atmosphere of the planet, a green haze the color of the time stone surrounded it and it came crashing down even faster than before. Carol sped downwards to try and stop it from reaching the ground, but it was too late. The impact destroyed everything it touched and then stretched even further. Carol was tossed backwards from the force. Thanos stood at the center of the chaos, hand over his head.
Kamala pushed a large rock off herself, "Holy crap! Did you just throw a moon?! That's really scary and really cool all at the same time!"
Thanos used the gauntlet to chuck the large remains of the moon at them.
"You know!" Kamala yelled loudly over the sound of smashing rocks, "For a guy who wiped out half of the life in the universe, I don't think you're going to be a very good farmer, cause like, plants are considered life and you're supposed to care for them, definition of farmer. I can pretty much guarantee you that that's already a meme. Also, does the whole snap thing not affect plants or," She broke a giant rock flying at her with her embiggened hand.
"I'll give you a fair warning, little girl." Thanos's voice was low and raspy, "This has happened before. A strong being who believes they can overcome fate." He glanced at Carol, "Brings along a child. Last time, I killed that child. But children are the future of this glorious, new future. Don't make the same mistakes he did." Thanos balled his hand with the gauntlet into a fist.
"I'm not little." Kamala protested, literally growing multiple feet in height, "Only when I want to be."
She raised her foot above the Titan and stepped on him. Carol flew up to Kamala's shoulder level. Just then, he slowly lifted Kamala's foot off himself.
"Come on!" Kamala groaned.
Carol smirked, "Welcome to my world, kiddo."
Thanos shoved Kamala to the ground. Startled, she returned to her normal size and Carol caught her in the air before she hit the ground. As the landed, Carol turned to face Thanos and closed her eyes. When she opened them again, they were glowing a bright, sunset orange. She let all the energy radiate and burst from her body in a bright, fiery explosion, sending the Titan flying.
"Woah." Kamala breathed, "That. Was. So. Flipping. Cool. I've gotta use that move in a fanfic!"
However, Carol balled up her fists, "We're just getting started."