Chapter Text
When patrol lieutenant Monica Rambeau destroyed a superweapon, she gained an ability to convert her own body into a spectrum of photonic and electromagnetic energy. Since then, she would learn to use her newfound powers for good and justice, as well as to protect others, including other fellow superheroes. No matter the trials, no matter the errors, her heroism would never waver, for she is Captain Marvel!
Location: Coney Island
Warmth and light streaked across the amusement theme park island from the daylight sun, muffled vaudeville music droned on in the distance, and many adults along with children took joy in taking rides and playing games. Watching over all this, Monica Rambeau laid back on a lifeguard chair, took a slow relaxed breath, and took a sip of iced tea. After at least a few months of fighting a couple of crooks and also battling some supervillains, whether on her own or with other avenging superheroes, she finally got herself a chance to just kick back and let the rest take good care of itself.
However, even this wouldn't last forever, as the distant screams of joy and excitement of riding a rollar coaster gradually morphed into screams of fear and panic as Monica also caught the sounds of faint cracking, crackling, and cackling. Briefly rolling her eyes, she grabbed her bag, hopped off the high chair, and went for the nearby ladies' public toilets for privacy.
"Holy moly, just when I was starting to actually take a good long enough break and have a good chill time, suddenly things go sour again!" Monica huffed in annoyance. "I suspect more than just fickle fate".
Conveniently empty for the moment, Monica quickly took off her civilian clothes and and swiftly slipped into her white and black super-suit before exiting the toilets and taking off. Here she went again.
Making her way to the heart of the theme park itself, Captain Marvel looked and scanned around to what the occurrence is this time. Various innocent civilians continued to flee and evacuate the island, guided along the way by a few guards. Soon the Captain heard that same familiar cackling once again, spinning back to see and spot who or what such cackles belonged to. She looked up and what she saw was bizarre to say the least. A large floating pair of pale lips formed into a seemingly permanent open grin, showing off its pearly white teeth and gaping darkness within, and with little spread hands on the sides.
Captain Marvel stared with squinted eyed and slightly gaped lips of her own. "And who, or rather what, are you supposed to be?" She dared to ask.
"You can say I'm... All-Mouth!" The big mouth actually spoke back, with a slightly deep yet squeaky alien-like voice.
"And just when I thought I'd seen stranger foes," Captain Marvel uttered under her breath, still put off by such a sight, but still confident enough to levitate just close to the big mouth's level.
"You took the words right out of my mouth, Captain Marvel," All-Mouth boasted as it floated above the highest point of a particular roller coaster. "But if you don't bugger off, you can guarantee I'll shove those words right into your own throat".
"Well whatever the hell you are and wherever you came from, you don't exactly scare me," Captain Marvel scoffed, darting towards the anomaly.
But just as she was about to charge into a living beam of energy and light, the All-Mouth simply moved to the side and out of the way and line of fire. Stopping almost instantly in her own tracks, Captain Marvel turned back with befuddlement.
"Haha, you big cheese! I'll bite through anything from right under your very feet," All-Mouth continued to boast. "That's how I shall take over this carnival island, by biting everything in sight!"
"At least I have feet," Captain Marvel retorted. "And the only thing you'll be biting today is your own tongue, you big mouth!" She flew forth once more and seemingly managed to take a grabbing hold of All-Mouth. "Gotcha!" She sputtered while trying to keep and contain the creature within the grasp of her arms, but All-Mouth seemed to slip itself free from the tightened clutch. "Whoops, I don't gotcha".
"Hahaha, you goofed, you done goofed up!" All-Mouth teased while pointing with one of its hands. "Captain Marvel is a big cheesy goof!"
"Oh that's how it is, eh?" Captain Marvel felt her buttons pushed. "I oughta teach ya to badmouth someone like me".
"Big Mouth, Bad Mouth, All Mouth, that's what I am!" All-Mouth chortled before it started to gnaw and gnash and chomp onto the rails of the coaster beneath it.
Quickly floating down, Captain Marvel darted about, thinking of something, anything, to use against this bizarre foe. Soon, she spotted a few food stands close by sided together, one that sold churros, one that sold candy floss, and one that sold hot dogs. Heading for the stands, Captain Marvel picked up and took a few abandoned yet still fresh bits of all three. Once she had a big enough pile with her arms' fold, she flew to the air again to get the All-Mouth's attention.
"Oi, All-Mouth!" She called for All-Mouth. "I think I know just how to make you smile outta the other side of your mouth, if you even have a face, that is..." There she showed off the amount of churros, candy floss and hot dogs in the clutch of her arms.
"Well, shut my mouth," All-Mouth licked its peachy lips. "Those sweet and savoury delights are what I've been wanting".
"Sure, good for you,..." Captain Marvel muttered quietly before chucking the food down to the centre area of the carnival as All-Mouth took the whole bait hook, line, and sinker and munched it all down with ease.
Meanwhile, Captain Marvel flew off elsewhere to find some convenient rope, long enough to be some good use. Flying back, she could see that All-Mouth was just about to finish its spoilt meal. Knowing that it would no doubt go back to reeking more havoc, Captain Marvel darted for the mouth yet again, this time with rope tightly gripped in hand.
"Now you've had your candy floss, let's floss those teeth of yours," she grunted and struggled.
She wrapped and wrapped and wrapped the long thick blue rope all around the top and bottom of the All-Mouth, sealing the teeth shut and eventually tying a strong enough knot in order to keep it closed for good. All-Mouth frantically bounced about and squealed, almost as if to beg to be released again, to which any good rational person would refuse.
"Did anyone ever caution you not to talk with your mouth full?" Captain Marvel quipped with a little one-liner. A cute yet confident smile rose from her own lips.
Soon enough, a few S.H.I.E.L.D. agents showed up into view from out of the blue, surrounding the All-Mouth, before hauling and confiscating it away to outside the Coney Island where a big grey steel van waited.
"Nice work, Captain Marvel," one of the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, and a rather familiar one of that, complimented the Capt.
"Always a pleasure, Agent Coulson," the Cap nodded and smiled. "Even in I thought would've been a day-off for me".
"Every superhero will always have a day-off at some point," Agent Coulson said. "Even when some supervillain comes around the spoil it".
"Such as one as weird as Mr Big Mouth," Captain Marvel noted.
"Yeah, we've been trying to figure out strange thing for quite a while now," Coulson admitted.
"Have you?" Captain Marvel questioned.
"Yeah, All-Mouth had been around for some time, and we don't entirely know yet how exactly it came into being," Coulson explained.
"You and me both, Coulson " Captain Marvel agreed.
"Oh speaking of which, our friends over at S.T.R.I.K.E. in the UK have something interesting for you," Coulson remembered. "An assignment of sorts if you will".
"And what may that assignment be exactly?" Captain Marvel questioned.
"I asked a similar question, but I think we might find out very soon," Coulson said.
Location: Unknown
Somewhere else, in a place yet to be fully known, something or someone started to stir from a knocked-out sleep. A pale-faced human teenage boy with a brown shoulder-length mullet as well as wearing clear dark-blue shades, a bright red suit with a white bird-like symbol on the torso, white gloves and leggings, and red boots. With a few dark-blue and white trims across the neck, wrists, waist, upper arms, and lower legs. Groaning and pushing back his hair, the boy soon started to remember what had happened prior, albeit quite vaguely.
He remembered something going off in the distance, a misty cloud of green erupting and approaching the home city he was living in, many people running and fleeing with panic, himself included. As fast as he could've been, the fog itself proved much faster as it soon overwhelmed the boy, entering his lungs and stirring something within him. He changed, enwrapped in a cocoon, seemingly transforming into something else, something more. Upon his release, his clothes having already been ripped and shredded away from the chrysalis, an outside force knocked him down to near unconsciousness and dragged him away to parts unknown.
And now here he was, alone, wearing a strange tight uniform he never recalled wearing before, in what seemed to be some strange prison or containment unit. Where and why he had yet to know and find out. He looked up to his side to see what resembled a small quadcopter drone with a camera staring back at him, floating in place with a quiet buzz before moving upward.
Getting back up onto his boot-clad feet, he took a deep long breath of what seemed to be clean and almost fresh air before walking and looking around to closely see and observe what exactly kind of room this would be. A off-white sterile room large and wide enough to fit about eighty people at least, with what looked like a steel door of sorts tightly shut. The boy already figured and knew it be without even needing to grab, punch, or hinder with it.
Soon, the drone then moved up further and floated to another particular spot in the room and emitted down a holographic projection of a light-blue-skinned alien woman in what looked like a dark-indigo armoured tunic of sorts along with silver-armoured leggings, a long ebony-black ponytail that reached far down even to ankle-level, and a dark gold headdress that cast a shadow over the woman's eyes. But her milky-white pupil-less eyes still glowed through, leaving the boy somewhat unsettled and certainly put off.
"Greetings, my Inhuman warriors," the alien woman greeted. "I'm Hala the Accuser. You're currently charged with refusing to serve the Kree Empire, but I wish to offer you a second chance to embrace this noble cause". The Kree? Noble cause? Inhuman? All these words that the boy picked up, but barely understood.
"Your world may see you as mere children, but I see what you're truly destined to become... warriors, heroes, defenders of the Kree". As the strange woman, who identified herself as 'Hala the Accuser' continued, the hologram emitted more projections before the boy, a wide screen containing profiles of various humans in colour suits, outfits, and costumes, including himself and his own. He figured that whoever these other people may be, this Hala individual is addressing to all those humans, and not just him alone.
"Your mission is simple: face through a series of various obstacles, to test your power and determination, and move on to the next round. Those who manage through shall be revered on a thousand worlds. Those who fail or refuse to fight will be forced to watch their loved ones be taken by the hands of my Kree armada, perhaps to be experimented on as well even". As Hala explained and even threatened, the screen showed more photographic imagery, this time featuring each of the human captives and their respective families and bloodlines, including the boy's.
"Mum? Dad?" He instantly recognised, hoping to his deepest core that, unlike him, they weren't exposed to... whatever that alien fog might've been or had done to him.
"And those of you without families..." Hala paused, still with that smile that almost hid dark intentions and was clearly teasing the boy. "Well, no one will miss you anyway".
Clenching his gloved fists and grinding his teeth, the boy stared in defiance before daring to throw a punch right in the face of that Hala person. Even with his mind filled with frustration, he already knew that such a hit would phase through and not do much anyway. He grunted and grumbled once more, hoping to vent his anguish on anyone deserving of such somehow and somewhen.
"Escape is impossible," Hala simply spoke again, as if already expecting such a brief act of defiance and rebellion in advance, before expositing further. "Your cells are designed to contain all manner of the universe's greatest powers. Your first test begins... now!"
And with that, the hologram of Hala evaporated and flashed out of sight, to not been seen or listened to again... for now. Left alone once more, more questions raced around the boy's mind: Who truly is this Hala stranger? What are the Kree? Was she behind his kidnapping? Was she even the one behind the cause of that mist being released upon the planet Earth? How could he be charged for refusing something he wasn't offered for or didn't even knew about? Defenders against what exactly? Who are those other humans on screen? Were they from similar circumstances as him too? How did this Hala person know about his family, or even about any of these people's families?
All these questions and possibly more were desperately urging for answers, including a way to get out and escape this forsaking prison hold, wherever it may be, but right now, the boy had to focus and prepare himself, for just about anything that may come his way. Perhaps this could and would be the time to find out what he truly became, and see what power had been unlocked within him.
To be continued...