"Holy crap!"
Kamala was slammed to the ground by a blast from Infinity Gauntlet. The impact shook throughout her bones. An intense, ear-piercing ringing caused her skull to painfully ache. She spat out a mouthful of soil and dirt. Digging both fists into the ground, she pushed herself up and looked over her shoulder. Trees had toppled over under the influence of energy blasts and the powers of the Infinity Gauntlet. Ruins of Thanos's farm lie next to the debris of asteroids he had thrown at them. The sky was dusty and gloomy. Kamala wondered exactly how much longer they would be able to keep this up.
Another blast took over her body, except this time it didn't throw her across the field. In fact, she couldn't even move. She was lifted off the ground, surrounded by a blue light. Her teeth clenched as she saw a blurred image of Thanos's face. The gauntlet's power seemed like it was somehow becoming stronger than before. A familiar sunset orange glow hit Thanos right across the head, causing him to drop Kamala.
She grunted as she hit the ground again and the sunset orange was hurled away in a flash of icy blue. The next thing she was conscious of was the frigid cold death grip of the Infinity Gauntlet around her ankle. Thanos held her upside down in the air as she glared at him determinedly.
"You know, there was this purple pick-up truck I saw on the interstate one time. It had this ridiculously large black front bumper. It kinda looked like you."
Thanos reached for her head as she swiftly ducked forward and twisted herself around his body and roped her arm around his throat. He stepped backwards and Kamala clung onto to him as tight as she could as he pulled her from his throat. She retracted herself and leapt in the air, kicking Thanos in the side of the head.
Just then, Captain Marvel flew in and attacked him from above. Kamala whipped around to help her hero, but just as she charged at Thanos, he opened a portal which she fell through, crash landing on the other side of the woods.
"Oh, come on!" She cried from the familiar clearing.
Kamala yanked a branch from her tangled hair and tore back through the trees. She was thrown back by a white light that erupted on the other side of the trees.
She groaned, sitting upright, then came to a panicked realization, "Captain Marvel!"
The ends of her bright red scarf trailed behind her as she sprinted into the scene. Captain Marvel hovered in the air, energy circulating her body, focusing it on Thanos as he persevered forward. She only shone brighter the more he tried, until he finally grabbed hold of her arm. Kamala raced down the slope and jumped through the air, landing on Thanos's back as she extended herself, ferociously trying to pry him from Captain Marvel. She then sent a fiery punch at him as Kamala continued trying to pull him back. Large chucks of debris flew at her as she countered in rays of energy blasts.
Thanos eventually tossed Kamala over his head and she slid backwards on her feet through the dirt and stopped herself with her hand. She shot up an intense look at the Mad Titan and blew a thick stand of dark brown hair from her face. The corners of her mouth curved into a determined smile as she swung her enlarged fist at him.
However, he swung back, knocking the wind out of her chest. As she fell to the ground, she caught a glimpse of Captain Marvel's infuriated expression as she flew high in the air and pelted Thanos with the energy from both her fists.
"Get up, Kamala." She muttered to herself, "Get up, Ms. Marvel."
She managed to kick Thanos in the shin before leaping up to the ground.
"I assume you realize you fight for the wrong cause." Thanos held the gauntlet above his head, creating a shield to block the blasts.
Kamala rolled her eyes, "I assume you realize that's the most cliché villain stuff."
"Oh, I'm not the villain of this story."
"Uh huh. That's what they all say."
He gestured to the sky, "The universe is perfectly balanced."
"Oh yeah? Then how come there's still fighting? Not just here, but all over the freaking universe! Heck, the second Captain Marvel and Ant-Man stepped out of the quantum realm, S.H.E.I.L.D. was already hot on their heels. People are scared, and you can't 'cure' the universe of that."
The Mad Titian studied her with black, soulless eyes, "You have great power. You have yet to apply it to its maximum potential." His somber expression morphed into a devilish smile, "As have I."
A bright, powerful blast, the faint colors of all the Infinity Stones, projected from the gauntlet, impacting Captain Marvel and sending her falling from the sky.
"No!"
Kamala grew multiple feet in height and her right hand embiggened as she reached out to catch her. Captain Marvel sat upright in the palm of her hand as Thanos used the gauntlet to hurl large chunks of debris at Kamala. She raised her foot over him and kicked him to the ground. The debris rained on the ground. She returned to her normal size, gently setting Captain Marvel on the ground.
"Thanks, Kiddo."
Kamala felt herself intensely blushing, "Yeah, sure thing!"
A thought occurred to her regarding what Thanos had previously said about power. Was he holding his back, and if he was, why?
Captain Marvel suddenly grabbed Kamala by the arm and pulled her behind herself. She fired a powerful, radiant energy blast to counter the multicolored one of the Mad Titan's.
Kamala squinted, noticing the red glow of the reality stone was beginning to shine brighter than the others. The next thing she knew she was sinking into the dirt. It came up around her shoulders, eating at the world around her; suffocating her.
All the sudden, Kamala caught a glimpse of a flash of silver that struck Thanos from behind, and the force crumbled. She let out a small sigh of relief as she tried to dig herself out of the dirt. A moment later, she felt a rough but gentle hand grab the back of her suit and pull her up.
She looked over her shoulder to find a gray creature made entirely of stone staring back at her.
"Grah! Oh my gosh!" She exclaimed, holding up her fists defensively.
"Hello! I'm Korg! As you can see, I'm made of rocks, but don't let that intimidate you. Unless you're made of scissors. Just a little rock-paper-scissors joke for you." The creature, Korg, smiled cheerfully.
"Oh," She slowly lowered her fists, "That's cool. I'm Kamala."
"According to my very good friend, Valkyrie, we're supposed to be here to fight this big purple alien man who has turned everybody to dust." He grinned, pointing behind Kamala, "Oh, would you look at that! There he is now!"
Thanos menacingly approached the new figure, Valkyrie. Her long, glinting sword was drawn by her side, and her body was protected by white and gold armor. The wind tore at her sky-blue cape and long, wavy, dark brown hair. She slashed at the Mad Titan; an infuriated look written across her face.
"Ah, don't let Valkyrie intimidate you either." Korg smiled, "She may be a fierce warrior, but secretly, she really likes hot chocolate and warm hugs. I mean, sure, she's a little hesitant to trusting people and making friends on the account of her girlfriend being violently murdered by Thor's evil, older sister, turning into an acholic, watching her only home burn to the ground and suffering complete annihilation…"
"Korg!" Valkyrie yelled to the rocky giant, swinging her sword at Thanos's legs, "Why don't you quit telling the child my life story?"
He grinned, "Yep. She's a hoot."
Kamala stretched herself around the Mad Titan, trying to hold him steady, as Valkyrie sliced at him. Captain Marvel landed behind her, firing an intense blast to his face.
She looked over her shoulder at Valkyrie and Korg, "Who the hell are you guys?"
Korg waved merrily, "Hello! I'm Korg, and this is my very good friend here, Mink." He paused, "Oh wait. Mink is dead."
"Oh my God, I'm so sorry." Kamala replied sincerely.
"It's alright mate." Korg's smile returned, "That's why we're going to make sure this guy right here responsible for turning half the universe into piles of ash suffers a horrid, miserable fate."
"Oh, uh, ok."
Thanos tore Kamala from himself and threw her to the ground.
Valkyrie pulled her back across the ground away from him as she turned on her spot, slashing him across the chest.
"Valkyrie." She replied, glancing at Captain Marvel with a small grin.
Captain Marvel nodded, and returned a smile, "Carol."
Korg punched Thanos right across the face, "Oi! That's what you get for killing our friends, you big bully! That one's for Mink! I sure hope Thor hit you with the most painful lighting bolt you've ever been hit with! Well, actually, that doesn't make much sense considering the chances of getting struck by lightning."
"Wait, hold up, you guys know Thor?"
"Oh yeah! New Doug! And he joined our revolution! Still wish I had made more pamphlets though." He gasped excitedly, "Wait, do you know him too?"
"Yeah, he's one of the survivors too." Captain Marvel explained.
Valkyrie froze, shocked, then turned to face her, "Thor's alive?!"
Korg pumped his fist in the air, "Yes! What did I tell you, Valkyrie? He wasn't going to get killed that easily!"
Captain Marvel fired an energy blast at Thanos and turned to face Valkyrie, her gaze intense, "Can we trust you?"
Valkyrie grinned back mischievously, "I think that's entirely up to you."
A daring look flickered across her face. The four surround the Mad Titan. Valkyrie skillfully swung her sword and sliced at him. Korg threw a punch at him, but Thanos caught his fist and threw him over his shoulder. Kamala tripped him with her embiggened foot as Captain Marvel swiftly kicked him in the chest, energy circulating her body. Thanos then sent the rocky debris flying up off the ground that surrounded them.
"You know what? That's it!" Kamala cried furiously, throwing her hair back behind her shoulders, "I'm letting my inner fangirl out on you!"
She ferociously attacked him in a series of punches and kicks, while shouting, "This one's for Spider-Man! This one's for Wasp! This one's for Vision! This one's for Scarlet Witch! This one's for Winter Solider! This one's for Falcon! This one's for Black Panther! This one's for Hawkeye!"
Thanos reached for her ankle, but Captain Marvel was faster and grabbed her by the forearm, pulling her upward.
"So… what's this called?" She asked, regaining her grip on Kamala as she put her arm her, "A 'Marvel' team up? Cause we both have marvel in the name?"
Kamala let out a gasp of excitement, "Absolutely!"
She smiled, and they rushed to the ground; Captain Marvel, blazing fist first and Kamala, embiggened foot first. They hit Thanos and the ground with such force, dust came rising up all around them. As the dust settled, Kamala stood determinedly by Captain Marvel, Valkyrie, and Korg as the Mad Titan rose to his feet.
A thin stream of purple blood trickled down his nose. The same shade of purple was smeared across Captain Marvel's knuckles.
He lightly wiped the blood from his nose with his thumb.
"Damn!" Valkyrie grinned at her.
Captain Marvel took another step towards him, "Don't be surprised when you watch your world crumble, just like you crumbled ours. Cause you're in for one hell of an endgame."
The radiant, blazing light from her fists spread all throughout her body, and her eyes glowed a warm, sunset orange.
Thanos worn an unreadable expression as he looked down at the Infinity Gauntlet. The Soul Stone was giving off an orange light, brighter than all the others.
The corners of his mouth curved slightly upward, "Until then…"
Carol lurched at him, teeth clenched, as he stepped backwards into a swirling, blue portal. She hit the ground as the portal disappeared and the energy slowly faded.
"Where did he go?" Korg asked in disbelief.
"Quantum Realm." Captain Marvel sighed, "He found them."
Valkyrie raised a brow, "Found who?"
"The Avengers." Kamala explained, "They went back through time to get the Infinity Stones before Thanos and bring them back to the future so we can counteract the Gauntlet's power."
"Oi, it sounds like you're on your way to a fully successful revolution!" Korg commented happily, "Now all you need are some pamphlets!"
Kamala sat down next to Captain Marvel, "So, what now?"
She looked at Kamala with a sad smile, "We gotta get back to Earth to warn them."
Kamala nodded, "Don't worry, we'll be ready for him! Dude, he was ready to wet himself when you started doing the glowy thing! He's about to get his purple alien butt kicked!"
Captain Marvel laughed, turning to Korg and Valkyrie, "You coming with us?"
Valkyrie shrugged, smirking, while Korg shouted excitedly, "Yes! And the revolution resumes!"
As they made their way back to the ship, Captain Marvel nudged Kamala, "You did good, Kiddo. There aren't many people who would've even done it. And I don't think I have the legal authority to do this, but if I were Captain America or Iron Man, I would officially declare you an Avenger."
"Woah." She breathed, "I'm sorry. Wow. I just, if I hadn't just gotten slammed into the ground and had the bruise on my side to prove it, I would think I'm dreaming because Captain Marvel just told me I should be an Avenger! Oh my gosh! The fact that we just got attacked by a big purple alien with a magic glove makes this is the weirdest best day of my life!"
"Yeah," Captain Marvel gave a light laugh and shook her head, "I would say that's about as weird as it gets, but then another threat would come along and prove me wrong."
"Yeah," Kamala paused, "So, you know, when all this is over, are you gonna stay on Earth, or…"
She shrugged, "I don't know." She held up her beeper, "I promised to come back for emergencies, so when this is over, it'll probably be more beneficial for everyone if I don't."
Kamala's face fell, "Well…" She sighed, "There's always gonna be trouble there, but as long as you got someone you care about, you've got someone to avenge."
"Now, I'm no Avenger. I'm not too great with teams. But you have a fair point. So, who's your person? Or persons?"
Kamala looked off thoughtfully for a moment before replying, "My best friends, Bruno and Nakia. He's a jerk, but a lovable one, sometimes. And Nakia and I have known each other since, like, the dawn of time. They've always stood up for me and get the kind of weird stuff that goes on in my life. They're the ones I miss the most." She tugged at her scarf a little as they stepped over a branch, "Who's your person? Or people?"
She laughed lightly, "Well, you know Maria. And then there's Monica. And of course, there's Fury."
"Wait, Nick Fury? Eye patch, trench coat?"
"God, is he going through a pirate phase or something? Yeah, he's one of my best, and probably only, friends. We stopped a Kree attack on Earth. Wait, you said he wears an eyepatch?"
Kamala blinked, "Well, yeah. It covers the weird scratches around his eye, and he won't tell anyone-,"
Captain Marvel nearly doubled over laughing.
"What is it?"
"Nothing! Nothing!" She cried, wiping her eyes, "Hey, does this person have to be a human?"
"No, I guess not."
She grinned, "Ok, then it's one hundred percent Goose."
"Goose?"
"Yeah, he's a Flerken cat."
Kamala looked as if she were processing this, "So, it that a Top Gun reference?"
She gasped, "No, not intentionally, but that's perfect!"
Kamala grinned as the spaceship came into view.
"You ready to save the universe, Kid?"
She thought about Bruno and Nakia, her family, her town, and all the fallen Avengers, "Born ready."