Chapter 13 - Rewards

Inside the Quadjet, Maria has started firing up the engine. However, the Kree found that the Skrulls had begun escaping so ran towards the hanger, shooting randomly at the ship.

One of these bullets was about to hit Talos, when Faust pushed him down.

But the bullet ricochets hitting the jet's lever which pressed Maria's right hand.

"Ughh, shit! I'm okay!" Maria exclaimed when she saw Fury's concern.

"Your hand is getting swollen red, are you sure you can still fly this thing?" Fury asked.

Maria reassured him and said, "Yeah, I got this. It just swollen not amputated"

Thankfully, the tailgate of the Quadjet closed shut before more bullets rain down on them.

Maria pushed the lever making the ship go forward. She saw the kree ships was on the front along the runway so she fired at them causing the ships to explode. The explosion coincidentally helped them for cover so they were able to leave smoothly.

---

At the back of the Quadjet, Fury went over to Talos who was still lying on the ground.

"You all right, friend?" Fury asked with concerned.

"Never... better. Thankfully, the kid pushed me down or else." Talos answered while gesturing towards Faust.

Faust looked over and said, "You're welcome! Just paying the favor from your science guy."

Talos nodded gratefully.

Suddenly, situation became intense again as Maria called out, "We've got a bogey. Coming in hot."

Minn-Erva in a ship follows the Quadjet down to Earth. She starts shooting at the Quadjet and Maria barely dodges the bullets while flying through the atmosphere.

"Shit! I can't continue like this, my hand is starting to get numb. If this continues, we're going to get hit." Maria said when she realized her hand was in a more serious injury than she thought. She is trying to control the Yoke but she's having difficulty.

Fury suddenly remembered that there's someonelse here who can fly the Quadjet.

Hurriedly, he turn towards Faust and said, "Hey genius, take over the cockpit!"

All of them were stunned by what he said.

"Wait what? Me? I don't even have a pilot license." Faust said.

"Are you crazy? You want the kid to fly this thing?" Maria added.

"When we escaped the Pegasus airbase, Carol taught him how to fly this ship and he did. We made it to Louisiana. I'd rather take that chance." Fury hurriedly explained. 

Right after he spoke, the ship shuddered because they were almost hit.

"We have no time! Get on with it. Let Maria take the co-pilot seat." 

"Ughh fine! Give me the joystick.. I mean the Yoke." Faust finally accepted having no other choice.

Maria went to the co-pilot seat while Faust seated at the driver seat.

"Wow! This is just like in the arcade I've played!" 

When they heard it, they almost wanted to rush forward and beat him up.

"Do you guys really trust me that much? Well then, hang on to your dear life, hahahaha" Faust asked.

After saying this, he suddenly pushed the yoke forward causing it to dive right down the dessert area.

"Woooooooooooooohhooooooo!!! This is fun!!" 

He swerved the Quadjet right before it crash on to the ground. Fury and the rest was now regretting their decision. They are on the verge of vomitting their organs.

Faust maneuvered the ship left, then right, sometimes spinning while dodging the rain of fire from the rear. 

"I don't like to be passive." He gritted his teeth while narrowing his eyes.

Faust increased his concentration as adrenaline washed over him. He was sweating bullets of perspiration.

He rushed the ship over to the canyon flying it in a very low altitude at high speed while the chasing ship still following them.

Then he suddenly pulled the lever over causing the jet to jerk upwards.

Up in mid air, he opened the flaps of the right wing for three seconds causing it to turn in circle and now the head of the ship was heading downwards. He fired immediately and in the exact same moment, the chasing ship flew by. It was hit and it exploded.

"Eat that! You ugly piece of Sersi's incarnation!! Hahaha!" Faust celebrated as his aerobatic move worked.

Fury also laughed with him joining his celebration.

The he pulled the lever again before the ship hit the ground.

He thought it was already over when another ship fired at them. This time the right wing was hit. The chasing ship was about to explode them but thankfully, Carol flew over and hit the chasing ship in her flight.

"What the hell was that?" Seeing the glowing thing, Fury asked as he tried to get himself up.

--

In a certain part of the Mojave dessert, Sebastian and his men was waiting when suddenly they saw explosions in the sky.

"This must be the one that young master talked about." Sebastian murmurred.

Then he turn to his men and said, "You saw the sign, let's move! Follow the landing sites and retrieve the debris quickly."

The men started to move, three rows of truck drove forward as Sebastian oversaw the operation.

---

Meanwhile, the Kree retreated, and Carol returns to Earth, where she confronts Yon-Rogg

"I'm so proud of you. You've come a long way since I found you that day by the lake. But can you keep your emotions in check long enough to take me on? Or will it get the better of you, as always? I always told you... you'll be ready, the day you can knock me down as yourself. This is that moment. This is that moment, Vers! Turn off the light show, and prove, prove to me, you can beat me without..." Yon-Rogg shouted trying to goad Carol.

But he wasn't able to finish his speech because Carol shoots him with a small blast that sends him flying backwards and hits a rock.

She then walks towards him, while he tries to crawl back.

Carol looked down on him and said "I have nothing to prove to you."

Then Carol reaches her hand out to Yon-Rogg in which he takes it. She drags him across the desert, and puts him in the Kree pod that crashed.

Carol enters coordinates on the computer.

Computer: Destination: Hala.

"I can't go back empty-handed." Yon-Rogg said unable to accept his failed mission.

"You won't be empty-handed. I'm sending you with a message. Tell the Supreme Intelligence that I'm coming to end it. The war, the lies, all of it." Carol said staring seriously at Yon-Rogg.

"You can't do this." 

Carol starts the spacepod, but it can't take off because of the damage so she fires a blast at the engine, and the spacepod finally takes off.

---

Inside the Quadjet, everyone has settled down and and is taking some rest.

Maria was still in the co-pilot seat discussing some flight topics with Faust.

Fury on the other hand, held Goose and is fawning over to him like its a baby.

"That was a close call, huh, Goosey? Huh? The bad guy's still in there somewhere--"

Goose looked annoyed so he suddenly scratched Fury's eye which made him flinch.

"Oh! MOTHER FLERKEN!!!" Fury cursed with the unexpected attack from Goose.

They all saw this and Maria asked in concern, "You okay?"

"Yeah. It's just a scratch." Fury replied not taking it to heart.

But Talos said in disbelief, "No...That's not.."

Faust couldn't help but take a jab at his misfortune.

"Now, you will literally keep an eye on me, Hahaha."

Fury answers him with a middle finger. 

------

After a few hours, they've arrived successfully in Louisiana.

After the Jet landed, they went towards Maria's house, where everyone gathered for dinner.

A few moments later, Carol also arrived and is now sitting in the dining room with everyone.

"I can't believe you got into the raddest dogfight ever." Carol said looking at Faust.

Faust just shrugged, "Well, you taught me and I'm a smartass. You gotta have some confidence in your student."

Maria chimed in and said in interest, "That last air maneuver, where did you learn that?"

"Uhmmm...instinct. It's like the jet became part of my body when I hold the yoke. As long as I know how it operates, I can do it..I guess?"

"That's some nifty flying you did out there. SHIELD could always use a good pilot like you." Fury said trying to poach him.

"Haaah, you cannot afford my salary besides, I'm still a kid".

"Well if you decided someday in the future, you gotta let me know." Fury said not giving up.

"By the way, how's your eye?" Maria asked.

"Getting better every second." Fury lied with a smiling face.

"How about your hand?"

"Oh this, already applied an ointment. I'll see a doctor tomorrow to make sure." Maria said.

Then they shifted their focus to Talos.

"Just so I'm clear, you were Soh-Larr, and the SHIELD agent?"

"Keller. Tied my boss up, stole his identity." Fury corrected.

"I borrowed his likeness. I'm no thief." Talos defended.

But Soren, his wife said, "It's a little like thief."

"Whose side are you on?"

They chuckled over the couple arguing.

"You're good to go here til you recover, but you and your family will need a new look."

"I could go back to being your boss." Talos teased.

"Please don't."

"Come on. I love sporting his beautiful blue eyes."

Monica who was in the stairway with Talos' daughter said, "No way, you guys have the best eyes. Don't ever change your eyes."

Carol contemplated for a moment and finally decided, "I'll help you find a home. Finish what Mar-Vell started."

"They can stay here with us, can't they, Mom?" Monica suggested.

"They won't be safe here, baby. Auntie Carol is right. They need their own home."

Knowing that Monica is going to miss her, Carol reassured her and said, "I'll be back before you know it."

"Maybe I can fly up and meet you halfway." Monica happily declared.

"Only if you learn to glow, like your Auntie Carol." Fury teased.

"And be as impulsive as her." Faust added.

---

After they finished their dinner, Carol and Fury volunteered to wash the dishes. But they drag Faust again towards the kitchen.

"Keep the Tesseract on Earth. Hidden." Carol insisted while she wash the plate with water.

"You're sure that's what Marvel would want?" Fury asked.

"Wait, why am I the one who was washing the plates with soap, not you Fury? You volunteered this." Faust complained.

"Wash it or I won't drive you home." Fury threatened while Faust sighed in defeat.

"It's Mar-Vell by the way." Carol said bringing back to the topic.

"That's what I said."  Fury said in confusion.

"It's two words. Mar-Vell." Carol corrected.

"Mar-Vell? Marvel sounds a lot better. You know, like the Marvelettes?" Fury asked.

When he heard this, he knows what coming next so he objected in advanced.

"No... No.. don't do it. Just let me finish this in silence."

But Fury didn't stop. He grabbed the spatula in Faust's hands using it as a microphone and started to sing.

"𝅘𝅥𝅮 Oh, yeah, wait a minute Mr. Postman. Ey, ey, ey, ey, Mr. Postman. 𝅘𝅥𝅮"

"Not ringing any bells?" Fury asked when he saw a Carol bewildered while Faust rolled his eyes in exasperation.

"Keep singing. Maybe it'll come back to me." Carol suggested.

But Faust begged, "Come on, don't encourage him more."

Carol and Fury just laughed at him as he complained.

Eventually, Carol takes out Fury's pager, which has her symbol on it and gave it back to him.

"I upgraded it. Range should be, a couple galaxies, at least."

She offers it to Fury, but before he can take it, she pulls it away making sure he understand.

"What? You think I'm gonna crank call you?" Fury mused.

"For emergencies only. Okay?" Carol strongly emphasized the word emergency to him.

Then Carol gave Faust his own pager with the same symbol. 

"The same goes for you. This is in case Fury forgot to use his." Carol said.

Then Carol remembered his request and pulled out the sword of Korath from her suit. "And this one too. Be careful with it."

"No worries, you can rest easy. I'm not old like him." Faust grinned and carefully keep the pager and the sword as if it was a treasure. His efforts are finally rewarded.

"Well, if you're ever passing back through this galaxy, be sure to give a brother a shout." Fury said.

The two fist bump, and Carol teasingly electrocutes Fury but he just laugh it off.

--

A couple of hours later. The group went outside Maria's house to see Carol off. The Skrulls already left with Talos in advance towards the space.

Monica went forward and gave her Aunty Carol her leather jacket.

"We got the ketchup stain off." Monica said proudly.

"Thanks, Lieutenant Trouble. It's hard for me to say goodbye, too." Carol said sadly.

Monica look at her trying to memorize her image. She was reluctant to say goodbye to her.

"Go on." Maria urged.

Carol smiled at her and looked at Fury and Faust. She nodded and takes off flying up to Mar-Vell's laboratory, where the Skrulls were waiting for her.

She looks at the Earth one last time before flying inside the spaceship. As soon as she enters, the ship starts moving at lightspeed, towards other galaxies.

----

Back on earth, Fury and Faust bid their goodbye to Monica and Maria.

They use the Quadjet to go to SHIELD California branch and then Fury drives him off to the hotel.

When they arrived, Fury turn to Faust offering a fist bump.

"Go on, kid. I hope you do well on your studies. I have a strong feeling that we will meet again in the future."

Faust just shrugged and said, "Maybe.. Maybe not. Unless you wanted to sneak into my house in the middle of the night playing mysterious."

Fury pondered what he said and replied, "You know what, that's a good idea."

"Don't you dare.. " Faust instantly regretted what he said.

Then he remembered something so he asked Fury.

"Can I borrow Goose for a moment? I seem to have a cat food upstairs with some toys and wanted to give it to him. It'll be quick. Promise. "

Fury who was ever suspicious knows that it was just an excuse so he reminded him, "I get to keep the Tesseract. You know that right? "

"Yeah yeah, I know. I'm not stupid to enough to touch that hot potato. He just swallowed something else that belongs to me so... "

"Go on, hurry up. You have five minutes before I put an arrest warrant for you for kidnapping a cat." Fury shooed him away.

Faust hurriedly got out of the car and grabbed Goose before going inside the hotel.

Five minutes later, he came back with Goose and placed him back at the backseat.

"See you, kid. "

Faust glance back and nodded smilingly.

Fury started his car and drove away. He glance at Goose laying on his backseat before turning his eyes on the road.

"Mewww"