Thor 2 final part.
I own only my original characters, nothing else.
Within their ship, the Dark Elves worked to heal their king from his wounds when the Kursed elf, Algrim, approached him.
"We must attack now," he said in Dark Elvish, but then Malekith stopped the healers, leaving him with half his face charred black from the lightning Thor shot at him.
"No. Asgard is not important anymore," he responded. "The Aether has returned home."
Back in the small craft, Thor placed a blanket over an unconscious Jane as Loki and Max watched.
"Oh... what I could do with the power that flows through those veins...," Loki stated.
"It would consume you," Max countered.
"Perhaps... perhaps not. She's holding up alright, for now."
"She's strong in ways you'd never even know," Thor said.
"Say goodbye."
"Not this day."
"This day, the next, a hundred years, it's nothing. It's a heart beat. You'll never be ready. The only woman whose love you've prized will be snatched from you."
"And will that satisfy you?"
"Satisfaction is not in my nature," Loki replied.
"Nor is surrender in mine," Thor countered.
"Will you two please just SHUT UP?!!," Max exclaimed, making both Asgardians look at him, surprised at the outburst. "We have got far more important things to do than this childish arguing between you two. We have to work together!!! Don't you want to avenge Queen Frigga?! Next one to taunt the other gets thrown off this thing."
Max then simply walked over to the front and looked out at the horizon ahead of them. Thor and Loki simply just stared at him for several seconds.
"...Wow," Loki said. "For once in my long existence, I am speechless."
"He's right, though. We need to stop fighting," Thor said. "Besides, Mother wouldn't want us to fight."
"Well, she wouldn't exactly be shocked."
They both smile at this, despite almost starting a fight between them.
"I wish that I could trust you," Thor said, turning his back to the god of mischief.
"Trust my rage," Loki said and returned to steering the ship as Thor sat across from Max.
"I suspect something besides the annoyance of brotherly conflict is bothering you. Am I right?"
Max simply continued to look out towards what was ahead of them, not even giving any sign that he had even noticed that Thor was there. The god of thunder sat silently for a minute before he decided to walk away, believing his friend wanted to be alone.
"...Does it ever end?," Max suddenly asked quietly, just before Thor walked away.
"What?," he asked, sitting back down.
"Ever since my father came home from being kidnapped and became Iron Man, my life has been a roller coaster. It's had its ups and downs, and taken serious turns. How do you do it? Go from one battle to the next like it is nothing? Do you ever want it to end? To not have to fight all the time?"
"I do. It's a constant hope of mine to not have to fight anymore. It's understandable why one would believe I can simply shake off a fight. I can't, not entirely at least. Gets tiring after a while, this lifestyle of ours. We must always keep going, however, for as long as we can at least, because it's not just for ourselves that we fight for, but for those we love. I understand why you feel this way, Max. You never asked for this life, it was forced upon you. Even the strongest of us can become discouraged."
"Oh, I'm not discouraged," Max explained. "Nor am I exhausted from the constant battles. It's just that, they take up so much of my time. It's like I can't spend five minutes living my life, hanging out with my family and friends before fate throws a curveball at me."
"'Curveball?,'" Thor said, not understanding what he said.
"It's a baseball metaphor. It's a sport on Earth. What I mean is that the universe just won't give me a break."
"Perhaps you should choose your battles then," Loki suggested. "Couldn't help but listen in on your conversation."
"...Can't believe I'm saying this, but Loki is right. The fate of existence isn't just on your shoulders, despite what anyone might say and the fact that you might just be the Nemesis Champion. You don't have to fight every enemy that comes your way. There are always others who can as well."
Max thought about this for a few moments, just as Jane began to regain consciousness and Thor turned his attention to her. Max decided to give them some space and sat by Loki.
"I'm sorry about your mom," Max said, breaking the comfortable silence between them.
"...Thank you. Why do you speak to me as though you've forgotten that I killed three of your friends?"
"Oh I haven't forgotten one bit. In fact, the only thing that's stopping me from killing you is the fact that we still need your help. I just said that is because I know somewhat what it's like to lose a parent. I've almost lost my father a couple of times and I nearly lost my mom a few months ago."
"Doesn't really sound like you know how it feels as Frigga is actually gone," Loki said.
"Well, I did say I somewhat know," he said back, then decided to change the subject. "So this is Svartalfheim? It gives me the creeps."
"Indeed. Though that might be the point."
Arc nodded in agreement and the two of them sat in silence for the remainder of the trip, as the conversation they were having had simply run short. Another reason was because Max had a lot to think about. Perhaps Thor and Loki had a point and he should just get away from it all for a while. Don't let anything stop him from simply living, just let some else deal with the world's problems.
'You know what? I just might do that,' he thought to himself. 'I'll call it a true vacation. I've been meaning to see just how fast I can run anyway.'
Max had become so lost into his own thoughts and plans for the future that he barely registered Thor shaking him by his shoulder.
"Max, Max," Thor said quietly, getting the teenager's attention and he saw the ship had landed. "We've arrived."
"Malekith," Jane said weakly as she looked ahead and saw the Dark Elf and his men walk out of their ship, as if expecting them.
They got out of the craft and walked to the hill overlooking the old battlefield of the war between Asgard and the Dark Elves.
"Alright, are you ready?," Thor asked Jane, to which she nodded and he turned to max, who was behind them and out of sight of the elves. "Max?"
"Yup, I'm ready," he said and sped off as Thor turned to Loki.
"I am," he replied as Malekith then spotted the three of them on hill. "You know this plan of yours is going to get us killed?"
"Yeah, possibly."
Loki then held up his still shackled hands. After a brief moment of hesitation, Thor removed them.
"You still don't trust me, brother?"
"Would you?," Thor countered and they looked back at their enemy
"No, I wouldn't," Loki replied and formed a dagger and stabbed Thor, pushing him down of the hill.
"Thor! No!!!," Jane yelled and weakly began walking towards them as Loki approached his former brother.
"You really think I cared about Frigga?!! About any of you?!!," he yelled and kicked him in the stomach. "All I ever wanted was you and Odin dead at my feet!!"
Thor then attempted to call for Mjolnir, but then suddenly, Loki used his dagger and cut off his brothers hand, making him yell out in pain as the hammer flew past them. Loki took this opportunity to grab Jane and walk towards Malekith.
"Malekith, I am Loki of Jotunheim and I bring you a gift," he said, throwing Jane and the elf king's feet. "I ask only one thing in return: a good seat to watch Asgard burn."
"He is an enemy of Asgard, he was locked in a cell," Kursed said to Malekith.
This seemed to be enough to satisfy Malekith and wordlessly accepted the offer and walked over to the injured god of thunder.
"Look at me," he said in English and turned him over to look at him.
The king of Svartalfheim then turned his attention to Jane, using his power to lift her into the air, or more accurately, lift the Aether into the air. He then used his power to extract the Aether out of her, letting her drop to the ground once it was all out.
"Loki, Arc, now!!!!," Thor yelled and the illusion magic around his hand vanished, revealing that Loki had never cut it off, it was all a trick.
He then summoned Mjolnir just as Arc arrived from behind, having circled around so as to not be spotted. He used his speed to take down any elves in his way, and he fired his repulsors at the Aether and Thor shot lightning and the mixture caused an explosion, similar to two repulsor beams being shot at each other.
In the wake of the explosion, when the dust settled, the Aether lay broken and fragmented on the ground.
However, this small victory was short-lived as Malekith simply raised his hand at the fragments were lifted into the air once again and they combined back together. The Aether truly could not be destroyed. Malekith then had the Aether enter his own body, causing both his skin to turn black and his eyes turned blood red, though the burn mark from Thor's lightning still remained visible.
"Oh, shit," Max said as Malekith used his new power to push him aside a great distance away and he began walking back to his ship.
Max quickly got back up and him, Thor and Loki all saw Malekith walking into his ship. Thor quickly flew off after him, Algrim, the Kursed elf, smacked him away and charged after them as Malekith flew off in his ship, the craft Turing completely invisible as it left.
Four elves now surrounded Arc and Loki, who quickly engaged them as Thor was being overpowered by Algrim the Kursed.
"You may want to help Thor," Loki suggested. "I can handle these guys."
Arc nodded slightly sped off towards the other fight, ramming into Algrim from behind while firing repulsors at the same time. He simply turned and smacked him to the ground and threw him at Thor, making him fall back down.
"Don't you dare say that you're handling this," Max commented as they got up.
"Wasn't going to because I don't. He's too strong to fight head-on," Thor said.
Max thought for a moment and then they saw Kurse strike a rock near him and that the tracking device was still on his back.
"I've got an idea."
"Better hurry with it then."
He nodded and pressed a button his arm and the tracker on Kurse's back exploded, stunning him and caused him to drop the large rock onto himself, sending him to the ground. He quickly broke the boulder in two and threw them at the two heroes. Max was able to dodge them but Thor was not so lucky and he was sent into a nearby hill. Max sped towards the creature and began slashing and blasting at him, trying to wear him down, but he just wouldn't go down and he punched him away and was send back a long way. Kursed began to beat down on Thor as Loki finished up on the elves he was fighting and saw Thor and Arc losing their fight.
He quickly went over to Max and helped him up.
"Having fun?," he joked.
"Shut up," Max responded and he saw Thor's predicament. "We've gotta choose our moment and take him from behind."
Loki nodded and Arc sped back towards Kursed as he smacked Mjolnir away, right towards him. With some maneuvering and merely by reflex, Max accidentally did what he thought was impossible: he caught Mjolnir and was not immediately sent to the ground with it. He got over it quickly and charged and the creature, smacking it to the ground with the hammer, ending the beating Thor was taking.
Thor seemed as shocked as Arc when he saw him holding the hammer, but the cursed elf got up and was about to attack them again when a sword suddenly impaled him. He turned to see Loki there, and simply grabbed him and pulled him to him, stabbing him with the sword as well.
"No!!!," Thor exclaimed while Arc was surprised at the scene.
The elf threw him away as a familiar humming began to be heard.
"See you in hell, monster," Loki said, clearly in pain.
The thing realized what he did too late and then one of the gravity grenades that was attached to the sword went off, slowly disintegrating him until there was absolutely nothing left.
Thor quickly ran to his brother's side as Jane ran up to them and saw what happened.
"No. No, no, no!! Oh, you fool, you didn't listen!"
"I know. I'm a fool. I'm a fool!"
"Stay with me, okay?"
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry," Loki kept on saying. "I'm sorry."
"It's okay. It's alright," Thor said. "I'll tell father what you did here today."
"I didn't do it for him," he said as he closed his eyes, his skin turning back to his Frost Giant blue form as he died.
"...NOOO!!!!!"
He cried over his brother's death, despite all that he had done to him and his loved ones. Max slowly walked over and placed a hand on his friend's shoulder in an attempt to comfort him as Jane hugs him.
"You alright now, Jane?," Max asked and she nodded slightly.
After a few moments, the three of them found shelter in a cave as there was no point in going back to the ship as they did not know how to leave the Dark World.
"He's gonna unleash it, not just on Asgard or on a star, Malekith is gonna destroy everything," Jane warned.
"How? Jane, how?"
"I saw him on Earth. Why would he go to Earth?"
"Has to have something to do with the Convergence," Max theorized.
"Yes, Midgard will be the only place all the realms will be accessible all at once during the Convergence," Thor explained.
"Meaning he'll be going to London as that is where we found all of that freaky stuff happening."
"Oh, God. None of this would have happened if I hadn't found the Aether."
"Then Malekith would have only possessed it that much sooner."
"I only found it because I was looking for you."
"And that does not make it your fault, Jane," Max reasoned, then suddenly, someone's phone began ringing.
"It's not me," Thor said, making Max snicker slightly and Jane checked her phone.
"Hello??"
"Hi, Jane, it's Richard," the guy on the phone said.
"Who's Richard?," Thor asked Max, earning a shrug.
"Richard?! Where are you?"
"I'm still in the office. It's been a crazy day here today."
"Oh, my God! This is amazing," she said, walking around to see if she can track where the signal is coming from.
"Is it? I quite enjoyed our lunch despite never actually ordering anything."
"How am I getting service here?"
"Must be a portal to Earth in this cave," Max said. "Let's head deeper into it."
"Is this a bad time? Do you want me to call you later?"
"No, no, no, no! Please, whatever you do, do not hang up the phone."
"Okay then. I was just wondering if you want to try again? Uh...maybe dinner next time," Richard asked.
"Uh...yeah, yeah, yeah. Um...just stay on the phone, okay?," she replied and soon found cans all over, and her car keys. "Oh my God. Come on!"
"These are things that were thrown through a portal in a factory in London. So this is where all the stuff went."
"Why are there so many shoes in here?," Thor asked out of curiosity.
"Well, it was a bunch of kids who found all that stuff before us," Max answered and Jane yelled in frustration slightly at losing the signal.
They kept going and soon enough, they found themselves right back where they began, at the factory in London.
"Not that there's anything wrong with Asgard, but it is good to be back home."
"I can understand that," Thor said as Jane got the car running and they got in.
"So, who's Richard?," they both asked, though Max asked merely to mess with Jane.
"Really?!!," she exclaimed in annoyance.
"It's weird we didn't get as many strange looks on our way here as one would think," Max commented.
"Yeah, that is weird," Thor said as they arrived at Jane's apartment door.
"That's your subject of conversation right now?," Jane questioned as she knocked on the door.
Darcy immediately opened the door after she knocked, hugging her a second later.
"Jane!!!," she yelled.
"Hey," Jane said, hugging back.
"Yeah, we're back too. Arc and Thor," Max said and she waved at him as she let go of Jane.
"You can't just leave like that, the whole world is going crazy!"
Thor hangs his hammer on the coat hanger next to the door.
"We also need to have a talk about that thing later," Max said and Thor nodded, understanding exactly what he was talking about.
"All the stuff we saw is spreading," Darcy continued and then saw Janes appearance. "Did you go to a party?"
"We kind of went to Asgard. So she pretty much got an upgrade in apparel."
"Erik?!," Jane exclaimed when she saw the Selvig was indeed in her apartment... with no pants on.
"Jane, how wonderful!," he said, getting up and hugged her, which was awkward for her for obvious reasons. "You've been to Asgard."
"Hey, Dr. Selvig," Max said.
"Ah! Maxwell Stark. Good to see you."
"You too. But where are your pants?"
"Oh, uh... he says it helps him think," Ian, the intern's intern said.
"What? You like feeling a little draft while you think?," Max joked, chuckling slightly, but soon stopped when he saw no one was laughing. "Huh... so this is how it feels whenever my dad tells a bad joke."
"...Okay. Well, I'm gonna need everything you got on this. All the work you've been doing on gravimetric anomalies, everything," Jane said, getting everything back on track.
"Okay," Selvig said and then saw Thor.
"Are you well, Erik?," Thor asked as he saw him pause for a moment.
"Your brother is not coming, is he?"
"Loki is dead."
"Oh, thank God," he said, but then realized his mistake as Thor just looked at him with confusion. "I... I'm so sorry."
"Thank you."
Erik then hugged Thor as well, which equally awkward for him as well. Once he'd let go of him, Jane, Thor and Arc quickly began to explain what is going one what was going to happen.
"Malekith is going to fire the Aether at a spot where all the nine worlds are connected," Jane explained.
"Amplifying the weapon's impact," Erik said. "With each additional world, the power will increase exponentially."
"Meaning eventually the effect will become universal," Max concluded.
"Yes, but the alignment is only temporary," Thor said. "He must be in exactly at the right place at the right time."
"Okay, but how do we know where that is?," Darcy asked.
"We follow the directions. This has happened before, thousands of years ago, and The Ancients were there to see it," Selvig answered, bringing out a map of Britain. "All the great constructions: the Mayans, the Chinese, the Egyptians, they made use of the gravitational effects of the Convergence. And they left us a map. Stonehenge. Snowdon, the Great Orme. These are all coordinates taking us...here."
He then pointed to point on the map.
"Greenwich?," Ian asked.
"The walls between worlds will be almost non-existent. Physics is gonna go ballistic. Increase and decrease in gravity, spatial extrusions. The very fabric of reality is gonna be torn apart."
"Basically, all we need to do is delay Malekith until the Convergence passes, using Jane and Selvig's gravimetric devices and kill him," Arc stated and Thor nodded as he called for Mjolnir.
"You thought of the plan to get us off Asgard and to the Dark World, Max," Thor said. "Think you can make up another one again?"
"...Alright, here's the plan, Thor, I'll give a comlink so we can keep in touch, at least while both of us are here on Earth, we'll take high points and be on the lookout for the Dark Elves. Jane, you and Erik find a high point where the entire area is visible, have the controller with you and when an enemy is nearby, flip the switch. Darcy, Ian, you two will have to set up the gravimetric spikes around the area."
"Keep them in spots that Jane keep track of, but try to have them spread out," Jane added, and Darcy nodded.
"Once Malekith arrives, Thor and I will engage him, keep him busy long enough for his plan to fail. Everyone, get ready to go, we leave in five minutes. Also, Dr. Selvig?"
"Yes?"
"Put on some pants."
He nodded before and everyone else but Thor and Arc walked away.
"You gonna be okay with all of this?"
"Don't you worry about me, little brother. I'll be alright. What about you? You aren't exactly happy about all of this, then again, I'd be worried if you were."
"That was just a build up of years of doing nothing but fighting off bad guys and having to protect my family and friends all the time. I'm alright now," Max said, getting a nod of understanding, then he looked at the hammer. "Surprising that I'm even worthy enough to lift that freaking thing."
"You know, when I think about it, it's not really surprising at all," Thor said, earning a confused look. "When in your life have you not shown your worthiness of wielding such a mighty weapon? You have been willing to sacrifice yourself to protect those you love in the past and even now. Take their burdens as well as your own. That is why you are worthy, because you are a good man, Maxwell Stark, who loves everyone around him and will do anything to protect them."
"...Yeah... that does sound like me."
This earned a slight chuckle and a pat on the shoulder as Thor walked away to help the others get ready. Once he was gone, Max got his phone out and quickly contacted Shuri and saw that she'd sent several messages to him while he was in Asgard.
'Hey,' he texted.
'Hey, there you are. What happened to you? I've been trying to message you,' Shuri responded.
' I was busy. I went back to Asgard and... a lot of bad stuff has happened. Now we're dealing with yet another world ending threat. In other words, just another day at the office.'
'You just can't catch a break, can you?'
'Guess not,' he replied back and then saw that everyone was ready to go. 'Gotta go now. I hope we can talk again.'
'We will. You're Arc, an Avenger, a hero. But more importantly, you're my hero. Good luck, Max.'
He smiled at this before putting his phone away and turned towards everyone.
"Is everyone ready?," he asked and they nodded and he had his mask go over his face. "Let's go kick some pointy-earred butt."
It was early morning when they arrived at Greenwich, and they quickly began to set up shop as Jane and Selvig headed up to the roof of the nearby library, Darcy and Ian began hammering in the devices all around the area, all the while Thor and Arc kept an eye out for Malekith.
"Thor, see anything yet?," Max asked from his spot on a nearby roof, through the coms he had given the god of thunder.
"Not yet, but the Convergence is almost here. That means he is as well," Thor answered.
"Okay. Darcy, Ian, be quick. They could be here an-."
Suddenly, the Dark Elf ship appeared out of nowhere, just like in Asgard, hovering over the Thames before crashing into and damaging a good portion of the library grounds. Seeing a ship appear out of thin air and crashing into the grounds caused, panic and chaise all over as the people began to run away. The ship eventually stopped in the middle of the grounds, and Malekith and what is left of his army stepped out. Just as the gateways to the other realms began to appear and move into position, Thor and Arc landed on ground in front of Malekith.
"You needn't have come so far, heroes!," Malekith said. "Death would have come to you both soon enough."
"Not by your hand!," Thor yelled.
"And certainly not today," Arc said.
"Your universe was never meant to be. Your worlds and your families shall be extinguished!!!"
He summoned the power of the Aether to send blasts of energy at the two of them, knocking Thor down for a moment while Arc used his speed to dodge it and get up close to blast him with his repulsors. He succeeds in hitting him, but is pushed back by the elf king. As he got up, he saw some of the Aether flying around him, but then he saw Malekith raise his hand and the piece returned to him.
"So, the legends really are true. The Infinity Champion, in the flesh. Suppose I should thank you for creating the Aether."
"What are you talking about?," Max asked as he got up and Malekith charged up another blast.
"So you do not know. What a pity that you shall never learn of how important you are," he said and was about to attack again before Thor threw Mjolnir at him, knocking him through some debris and into a car.
"You alright?," Thor asked.
"Yeah, I'm good. Just something he said that threw me off. We'll talk about it later."
Thor nodded and threw Mjolnir at Malekith, but it went through a portal right in front of him, and was sent into orbit. The two heroes both charged at the elf, pushing him through yet another hidden portal, sending them as well a car and debris back to the Dark World.
"Really? Here again?!," Max complained before being struck by the Aether, and sent back to Earth, when he saw Jane and Erik standing nearby. "Oh, hey guys."
"Hey. Where's Thor?!," Jane asked.
"Back on Svartalfheim, though he may be somewhere else now. It's a nightmare right now."
As he got up, some elves appeared behind them and Jane quickly activated a nearby spike. They disappeared, and then Darcy and Ian appeared, with Ian in Darcy's arms, kissing him.
"...Darcy?"
"Jane!!," Darcy yelled, surprised at the sudden appearance and dropped Ian to the ground.
"Ian?," Erik said.
"Selvig," Ian said.
"Weirdos," Max said to himself and Mjolnir flew over them.
"Mewmew!!!"
"Max? Max, are you there?," Thor said over the coms.
"Yeah, I'm here. Where are you?"
"I am on a train, on my way to Greenwich."
Then suddenly, it began to get dark and they saw Malekith beginning to get the Aether ready to spread across the universe. Soon enough, Thor arrived to see the Aether beginning to take effect.
"Thor!! We're too late," Jane exclaimed.
"The Convergence is at its peak!," Erik said as all of the realms line up in a straight line above Malekith's ship.
"Can those things stop him?," Thor asked.
"Not from here."
"We can't get close enough."
"...Maybe I can," Max said, making them look at him. "If I can run fast enough, I ought to be able to get to Malekith."
"No, we'll both go, Max."
"He'll be expecting you, Thor, and will quickly throw you aside. We don't have time to argue. The universe is coming to an end, I need to do this."
Thor stood there for a moment before reluctantly agreeing and Selvig handed Arc the spikes.
"You better come back, brother," Thor said, and Max simply nodded before turning and getting into a running position.
As the power charged up, his eyes turned to an electric blue color, and he ran faster than he'd ever run before. He was running so fast that everything moved in slow motion to him. The power slowly built up within him and he was able to make it through the strong winds being caused by the Aether, and now stood before a now very large elf king.
"Malekith!!!," Arc yelled and he turned to see him.
"Darkness returns, human," Malekith said. "Have you come to witness the end of your universe?"
"I've come to make you pay for ruining my vacation."
He quickly threw one of the spikes with all of his might to the right of Malekith's head, but he caught it. Jane was quick to take action and activated it, causing Malekith's whole arm to be sent to the Dark World. Max threw another into the king's right shoulder, and a moment later, that arm was gone as well.
"You think you can stop this? The Aether cannot be destroyed!!!"
"But you can be," he said and the power flowed through him yet again and he threw the last spike as he called for Mjolnir.
He summoned some lightning and he threw it, and it hit Malekith first into his ship and then was hit by the spike, and was sent, by Jane, back to the Dark World. The energy quickly dissipated as the ship then began to fall forward... onto Arc.
"MAX!!!," Thor yelled, sprinting over to try to save his little brother.
Max suddenly noticed that he was beginning to glow, and electricity began to for around him and right before his eyes, just before the ship vanished into a portal to the Dark World and crushing Malekith, Arc vanished in a bright light.
"Max?! Little brother, where are you?!! ...MAX!!!"
Few Days Later
Some time has past since the fight against the Dark Elves, and Thor has recently returned to Earth after facing his father and deciding to stay on Midgard.
"Any word on Max?," Thor asked, hoping for some good news.
"No," Jane said, looking down sadly. "I'm sorry. I know how much he means to you."
"It is not your fault. To be honest, I do not know what to make of what has happened to him. Perhaps the Infinity Realm required his services. Or... it was time for him to learn more about his gifts."
In a forest far away from London, a bright light suddenly appeared and then vanished, leaving only a slightly battered Arc behind.
"Oh... what the??," Max said to himself. "What happened? Where am I?"
He began to look around and found himself at a beach and soon began to recognize the landscape.
'Somewhere in California,' he thought to himself. ' How did I end up here?'
Max then heard the roaring of a jet engine and looked up to see one flying over him, but it was on fire and crashed nearby. He quickly ran towards the crash site to see the jet was blown all over and parts on fire. He also took note that it seemed rather advanced for a jet, but also had some older features. Arc then noticed the cockpit was intact and the pilot was attempting to get out.
"Hey!! You hurt at all?!," he yelled to the pilot and she turned towards him.
"Who the hell are you kid?!," she yelled back, surprised to someone there already, and then he sped towards her until he was right next to her.
"Just someone who got here in the nick of time to help."
He quickly got her out and he saw that was around his height, and about a decade older and had long blonde hair.
"...Well, alright then. Here, help me get Dr. Lawson out."
They climbed over to the other cockpit to see an older woman, barely conscious, but still alive.
"Doc! Your blood... it's blue," the pilot stated, and Max saw that the woman's blood was indeed blue.
'She's some sort of alien,' Max thought.
"Yeah, but... how's my hair?," she asked, trying to make a joke and then saw Arc looking at her with suspicious eyes. "Who's the kid?"
"I don't know, but he was nearby and helped me out."
"...Alright. Help me out of here as well, please."
"Not a problem," Max said without hesitation, despite his suspicions.
He grabbed hold of her and phased her through the straps and gently placed her on the ground nearby with the other woman coming up from behind.
"I'd ask how you're doing all of this, but we have more immediate problems," she asked, and he just looked at her oddly.
"You... don't know who I am?"
"Should I?"
"I'm Maxwell Stark. You know, Arc? One of the Avengers?," he said.
"Well, Max, I'm Captain Carol Danvers," she said before turning her attention back to Doctor Lawson. "Don't worry Doc, help is on the way."
"No, you two need to get out of here," Lawson said as she tried to get up. "I have to destroy it before they get here."
"What? Lawson?"
"You remember what I said about our work here? What it's for?"
"To end wars?"
"Yeah. But the wars are bigger than you know," she said before falling back down from the pain. "Damn it! My name is not Lawson. My real name, is Mar-Vell and I come from a planet called Hala."
"...I would say that your delusional but we just got shot down by a spaceship and your blood is blue."
"It would certainly be a smart choice to believe her," Max said and then something caught his attention, the engine, and it was giving off a glow of energy he knew all too well. "Mar-Vell, do you even know what kind of energy that is powering the engine?!!"
"Of course I do, as do you it seems. Listen, I spent half my life fighting a shameful war. Now, both of you skedaddle before you give me any more regrets. Just remember the coordinates, okay? You two have got to save them without me."
"Save who? How?," Carol asked but her question was ignored as Mar-Vell pulled out a gun and sat up. "I've got to blow this engine before they find it."
"Who's they?," Max asked but Mar-Vell was shot through the heart before she could say or do anything else.
As Carol ran to her fallen friend's aid, Max looked towards where the shot came from and was about to move towards it, but was then shot in the leg.
"Ahh!!," he yelled out in pain.
"Max!!," Carol exclaimed and went over to him, Mar-Vell's weapon in hand. "Are you okay?"
"I'll be alright. Shots came from up ahead."
She got him up and pointed her gun at the direction he said, handing her own gun to him. From the smoke came a man with green and black armor on and had yellow eyes.
"We have no interest in hurting either of you," he stated.
"No?! Because all the shooting kinda gave me the wrong impression!!," Carol yelled back. "And you just shot a kid!!"
"That wasn't me, that was my subordinate. The energy core, where is it?"
"Pararescue is on the way. You have two minutes until you're surrounded."
"Then I see no reason to prolong this conversation," he said and pointed his gun at them both.
Max stood still and didn't move, despite his leg having already healed. He knew all too well that even if he could take out the man, whoever shot him could take out Carol afterwards, and he wasn't going to sacrifice her.
"No, wait," she said and looked at Max, who nodded very slightly at her. "I'm sorry, Arc."
"I know. It's okay."
"You mean that energy core?," she asked, looking back at the other man.
They all look towards as Max and Carol pointed their weapons at it.
"Here we go again," Max said to himself quietly.
"NO!!!!," the man yelled as the two of them fired and destroyed the engine.
The energy from the machine was shot straight at them, Carol getting hit by the most of it. Both absorbed the power into their bodies, with Carol's eyes then glowing a gold color for a moment and Max's glow electric blue as well. The blast knocked all three of them down and once the energy dissipated completely. The alien man got up and assessed the aftermath, with his subordinate coming up from behind him, a woman with long black hair, the same kind of armor, but her skin was blue.
"Commander, they're still moving. Permission to fire?," she said.
"Hold your fire," he said and picked up Carol's damaged dog tag, with only 'Vers' being readable.
"There's nothing left. The core has been destroyed."
"They absorbed its power. These two are coming with us."
Hey. I am so sorry that it took me so long to finish this. Life and work both got in the way, as well as having writer's block for a while as well. Hope you liked it and sorry if it seemed rushed at the end. Can't wait for what comes next. Until the next chapter is up, see ya later.