In this latest installment of fanfiction from author Mark Wooden, SHIELD agents Deputy Director Maria Hill and Captain Carol Danvers, a.k.a. Captain Marvel, head to the moon to check on a possible alien anomaly. Chapter one of nineteen.
“Why am I on a spaceship on the way to the moon again?” Captain Carol Danvers asked.
“Because you’re an agent of SHIELD, I run SHIELD, and I said so,” General Nick Fury replied over Danvers’s helmet intercom. “Now don’t get too bent, captain. Your role in this is strictly backup. Director Hill will run point.”
A mental image of Fury appeared in Danvers’s mind’s eye. She saw him lording over the SHIELD command center at the Triskelion, seeing everything on the multitude of monitors despite having only one eye.
Danvers looked to the seat across from her in the shuttlecraft. Maria Hill was as severe in discipline as her pixie haircut. She had worked for SHIELD and Fury for two decades now.
Hill could decide what Fury needed to be done, how he would want it done, and then get it done.
So far, it’d worked for her; it had earned her a seat at his right hand as Deputy Director.
For her part, Danvers had joined the outfit only two years ago.
After the invasion by the shape-shifting aliens the Skrulls, SHIELD had come into a whole bunch of alien tech. They’d managed to create some interesting aircraft but needed pilots to test the things.
Danvers, an ace pilot in the United States Air Force, had jumped at the chance to be one of those pilots. The choice ended up being far more interesting than she could have imagined.
A crash unleashed some weird photon energy. It had consumed Danvers. Instead of killing her, it transformed her.
Danvers had gained a level of invulnerability, super strength, the ability to fly, and the ability to absorb certain types of energy. She could then repurpose that energy into blasts or increased strength.
Danvers’s career with SHIELD moved from that of a simple pilot to a super-special agent Fury had the nerve to call Captain Marvel.
Carol decided she was on this shuttle in case Director Hill needed those new alien-given powers. That was just fine with Danvers. She was itching to use them.
The last time she had, Danvers as Captain Marvel battled the mutant terrorist Mystique and her new version of the Brotherhood of Mutants. A new mutant ambushed her.
With a touch of her naked hand to Danvers’s face, the mutant stole not only her powers but her memories.
Fury had taken her to Professor Charles Xavier, a powerful mutant telepath who helped heal Danvers’s mind and return those memories. She’d been off the active list for six months recuperating as her powers slowly returned.
“Isn’t this something better suited for Iron Man?” Danvers asked.
“He called about it,” Fury said. “I’d rather keep this in-house. Stark’s got all that paparazzi around him; wouldn’t want TMZ getting the scoop on the next alien invasion, scaring the hell outta the planet.”
“Or making a mess of the moon like he and Batman did the Vegas Strip last year,” Danvers joked.
“Not exactly how I would have played it,” Fury said somberly, “but the man did lose a hand in the cause of exposing HYDRA, so I give him some props.”
Danvers thought that generous of Fury. He’d given her this trip to the moon as a reward for having her memories and powers stolen. She was still itching to find that mutant and get a bit of payback, but that wasn’t on Fury’s agenda.
There were three other SHIELD agents onboard the shuttle, not including the pilot and co-pilot. Like Hill and Danvers, they all wore the SHIELD-issue space suits.
Unlike the bulky outfits astronauts in the 1960s wore, these suits were form-fitting, blue jumpsuits with the SHIELD logo emblazoned on the left breast.
The suits not only protected against the hazards of space (something Danvers didn’t need) but were armored to protect against harsher realities.
Like a Skrull blaster.
A bubble-like helmet completed the suit, providing a sealed system as well as a communications apparatus. In case offensive maneuvers were necessary, shoulder holsters contained blaster pistols.
“So really, Maria,” Danvers said. “What are we doing here?”
Hill picked up a tablet computer from a rack above her head. Her gloved fingers danced across its surface while she spoke. “Our early warning satellite network detected an anomaly just outside of Earth orbit.”
“More Skrulls?”
Hill shook her head within her bubbled helmet. She handed the tablet to Danvers. Taking it, the captain saw an image of a bright halo of light in space. A tube extended behind it into the vastness of space.
“We have no idea what it is,” Hill said. “It appeared suddenly; something small came out of it, then the tube disappeared.”
Danvers handed back the tablet. “Let me guess; that ‘whatever’ ended up on the moon.”
Hill returned the tablet to the overhead rack. “It’s been sitting there for over an hour, not moving.”
“As if it’s waiting,” Danvers said. “And we don’t have anything that can see it from a distance?”
“We do,” General Fury replied, “But I want eyes on it too.”
Danvers looked out the forward window toward the moon, getting more anxious as the shuttle drew closer to its destination.
To be continued…
While writing this fanfiction, I used Green Ronin’s Mutants and Masterminds, 3rd Edition RPG, to leave some things to chance. Check it out!
Like this fanfiction? Check out Mark’s original “Shadowdance” saga books!
Author’s Note:
The characters Maria Hill, Captain Marvel/ Carol Danvers, SHIELD, and Nick Fury are Copyright Marvel Comics
The characters Superman/ Clark Kent/ Kal-El, Supergirl/ Kara Zor-El, Darkseid, Maggie Sawyer, Solomon Grundy, and Parademons are Copyright DC Comics
I don’t own any of these characters as this is fanfiction. It’s done for fun and as a creative exercise
