What If...Ms. Marvel Was Trapped In Time? by Firelance2361 on DeviantArt (original) (raw)

Sorry if I’ve been a bit absent lately, but to make up for that, here’s a retro-inspired piece I did for a retro-esque What If…? Scenario idea I had, bringing a few different aspects of the MCU together. Apologies again if you find it a little long, but here we go:

———————————————

In this universe, after Kamala reunited her grandmother Sana with her father Hasan, she got cornered and confronted by Najma, demanding her to hand over her Bangle. During their tussle for the Bangle, it accidentally got knocked off of Kamala's arm, causing it to return to the past without her. As Kamala watched in horror as her way home was gone in an instant, Najma grabbed her and threatened her with her blade, prepared to kill her, until Kamala managed to knock her back with a chunk of Noor energy, allowing her to escape into the crowd.

———————————————

Now stranded in the past with no known way to return home, Kamala quickly finds some era-appropriate attire left behind from the Partition, using them to blend in and disguise herself from both the British and the Clandestines alike.

As she makes her way through the country of India, she finally makes it to Aisha and Hasan's old homestead, finding it still deserted an damaged from the mass move. Correctly assuming that the temple that Najma told her about must be nearby, Kamala attempts asking some of the nearby folks for direction or any clues to the site. Eventually, she ran into one of Haas's old friends, who was able to inform her of where the temple was located.

———————————————

After walking some time through the dense forest terrain, Kamala eventually arrives at the temple, finding it still in ruins from the British attack. Dismayed, but not undeterred, Kamala looks around the site for any way in, eventually finding one hidden underneath a small shrub. Kamala then climbs through the tight spacing, trying not to get crushed underneath, until she finally manages to get to where Aisha and the Clandestines said the Bangle was found. As she admires the design of the Temple, she then notices the strange symbol of the floor covered by debris. Upon lifting up the debris, she recognizes it as the symbol of the Ten Rings, which astounds her even more.

As Kamala searches around the Ten Rings temple, trying to see if there were any other means to return home hidden inside of it, a Kree soldiers catches her from behind, telling her not to move. Kamala stands there terrified, worried about who may be behind her, The Kree soldier then orders Kamala to show herself and hand over the Bangle.

Kamala then reluctantly turns around terrified at the possible end of her life, only for her fear to turn to glee to discover that it’s none other than a young Mar-Vell, the mentor of her future hero Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel. After a moment of excitedly fangirl-ing over getting to meet her favorite superhero’s mentor - and clumsily explaining and convincing Mar-Vell that she’s from the future - she then asks for Mar-Vell's reasoning or being here in the temple. Mar-Vell tells her that she was sent to Earth to investigate the Quantum anomaly caused by the Bangle that sent Kamala into the past.

Since Kamala doesn’t want to risk using the Bangle that Sana and Hasan have out of concern of damaging the timeline and her family history, she pleads for Mar-Vell to aid her in finding another way to return to the present. When Mar-Vell asks why she should risk her status for her, Kamala reciting to Mar-Vell her desire to end wars, not to fight them, saying that it led to great things in the future.

After contemplating Kamala's offer for a moment, Mar-Vell decides to help out the young fan of hers. When the Kree radios to Mar-Vell to report, she manages to make an excuse to keep the Kree away from the planet for now, saying that she will handle it. As both Mar-Vell and Kamala are leaving the temple, however, Najma and the other Clandestines notice them from afar, planning to follow them to their target.

———————————————

The two ladies then travel around the city, looking for possible clues to get Kamala home. When she asks about possibly using the other Bangle, Mar-Vell explains that its location has been searched for for millennia, but no one has managed to find it. Mar-Vell also explains the origins of the Quantum Bands, saying that they were used to create the UNTN across the galaxy, allowing for galactic transfer, but that overloading one or both of them could lead to a rip in the space-time continuum.

Both Marvels then brainstorm potential nearby allies in this era who can help them to find an answer to this dilemma. It’s only when Mar-Vell name-drops figures like the Eternals that Kamala gets the perfect idea of where to go next.

Both travel over to Mumbai, where Kingo is currently working on his newest Bollywood production, and to their luck, they find in the audience Ajak the Prime Eternal visiting her friend due to all the commotion from the Partition. After watching and waiting for the performance to be done, Kamala and Mar-Vell confront the two of them about their dilemma, with the former using her knowledge of the future to prove that she knows about the Eternals, much to Ajak's surprise.

Upon telling them they need to get Kamala back to the year 2025, Ajak puts in a reluctant but necessary call to Phastos, who was still hesitant to help out humanity after the chaos of WWII. After a few days and some proper paperwork, they managed to get Phastos over to Mumbai without and international concern. After explaining the entire story of Kamala's time-traveling escapades, Phastos agrees to help them, but just for this and nothing more.

———————————————

After using one of his devices to scan Kamala's physiology, he tells them that since the Bangle activated her mutant abilities, there may be traces of its energy inside of her that they can use. The only question they have left is how they can find a trigger for the energy need to produce successful time-travel, Kamala then brings up how the Avengers used Pym Particles to shrink deep into the Quantum Realm, traveling through time vortexes to get to their destination.

That gives Phastos an idea for how to proceed further. After taking a small sample of Kamala's DNA for use, he gets to work with Ajak on the device to get Kamala home, with some engineering assistance from Mar-Vell on the side.

After a few hours of working o the device, Mar-Vell manages to find some time to chat with Kamala about the whole experience, to which they both say is extremely crazy. When Mar-Vell asks about her future self. Kamala is hesitant to answer that question, knowing that the answer may result in a dangerous divergence to the future. After some reluctancy, Kamala eventually decides to tell Mar-Vell about what happened to her in the future.

She explains how in the future, Mar-Vell decided to help the Skrulls in finding a new home, working under Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S as Dr. Wendy Lawson to build a Light-Speed Engine. She explains how in the 80's she worked with Kamala's hero Carol Danvers on the project, and how they become close friends.

When Mar-Vell asks about what happened after, Kamala is hesitant to tell her about her eventual death in 1989, but her silence gives the Kree warrior enough of an answer. Despite Kamala's attempts to apologize for it, Mar-Vell tells her that it's okay, saying that if she had died then at least it was for a worthy cause. As the two of them look out among the desolation caused by the Partition, and Mar-Vell likens it to what the Kree had been doing to the Skrulls, saying that it is a shameful and unfair way. She laments to Kamala about her growing dissonance with the Kree Empire, wondering if anything she does will make a difference to change it. Kamala comforts her, telling her all of the tales of Captain Marvel that she admired growing up, saying that the lessons she taught to her helped turned the tide of the future.

———————————————

Mar-Vell smiles at that, thinking her new friend Ms. Marvel for giving her hope to keep going. Immediately Kamala gets again excited hugging her, glad that the two Marvels are besties now, to which Mar-Vell reciprocates.

———————————————

Eventually, Phastos manages to get the device up and ready. Assembling everybody into the room, Phastos presents to them an Artificial Quantum Band. Using reverse-engineered Pym Particles and the energy signature of Kamala's Noor abilities, Phastos explains that the Band uses Kamala's energy to supercharge the particles, creating a reaction to open a portal similar to the one that sent her to the past. When Ajak asks if the device will work, Phastos says that while there , that they can make it work.
While everyone is hesitant, Kamala agrees to take the risk if it will get her home, to which everyone else agrees. After giving Kamala the Band, they activate it, which then channels the leftover Quantum energy the of Bangle left in Kamala, fueling and charging up the Band. However, before they can actually use the device, the Clandestines show up at the building, with Najma demanding that they give her the Band, wanting to use it to return to the Noor dimension. Mar-Vell asks Kamala if she knows them, to which she explains that they are the the same kind of people as her grandmother, who betrayed her because she wanted not to leave her daughter Aisha. She also adds that the leader Najma is the mother of her friend Kamran in her timeline, to which everyone agrees to find awkward.

———————————————

An annoyed Najma then lunges for the band, and the two sides begin to duke it out, with Clandestine weapons, Noor energy, and all around craziness ensues as everyone attempts to get the band. Eventually, Najma manages to knock Mar-Vell back, trying again to take Kamala's way home for herself. As the two tussle again for control of the band, Najma accidentally activates it, opening a portal to the future. Seeing this as her chance, Najma throws Kamala aside, running for the portal, only for Mar-Vell to grab her with her Magnetron Gauntlets, flinging her away from the vortex.

The two Marvels engage the Noor warrior, desperately trying to keep her from escaping with the others, but Najma manages to slash at Mar-Vell's gauntlets, breaking them before throwing her into Kamala. She then attempts to make a run for the portal again, finally prepared to escape to wherever it takes her, but Kamala manages to grab her ankle with an embiggened fist long enough for Kingo to land the knock-out blow against a nearby pillar, rendering her unconscious.

Unfortunately, the victory is short lived, as the portal slowly began to close in front of them; Mar-Vell tells Kamala to go now while she has the chance. She then gives Mar-Vell a tearful hug goodbye thanking her for helping her get home, and she in turn thanks Kamala for giving her hope for a better future. Before Kamala leaps through, she tells Mar-Vell to make sure that she finds Carol, for both their future's sakes. Mar-Vell promises her to do so, saying farewell to the future Ms. Marvel.

With that, Kamala leaps through the vortex, returning to her time period just as the portal closes in an explosive blast, knocking everybody back. Mar-Vell slowly awakes, seeing both the portal and Kamala now gone, meaning it worked. The heroes breathe a sigh of relief, glad that their efforts were a success. That's when the Kree contact Mar-Vell again, demanding for her to explain what has happened on C-53. Mar-Vell, now inspired by her time-traveling friend to make a better future, tells the Kree that she's officially done with their Empire, before breaking her comm by stomping on it.

———————————————

After the other Clandestines are handed over to the nearby authorities, Mar-Vell stands at her ship prepared to return to space, thanking Ajak, Kingo, and Phastos for their help in this Quantum craziness. When Ajak asks what she'll do now and if she'll ever return, Mar-Vell says that she will someday if what Kamala said is true, and that right now she's gonna put right some things that the Kree made wrong with their war against the Skrulls, no matter how long it takes. They all say goodbye to her as she departs the planet, prepared to help out whoever she can, looking forward to the future with nothing but hope.

———————————————

Sorry (again) for the lengthy bio for this piece, but with all the craziness going on with Marvel Animation recently, I thought this would be an interesting What If...? idea to explore as we go further into the greater Multiverse Saga.

Let me know what you guys think, and I hope you like it!