with foxes, we must play the fox.
”The Cadmean Vixen was seen near Battery Park, and my sisters have had no luck.”

“.. A literal Star Fox.”

“Yes. She wasn’t caught before, but I don’t believe she’s met you before.”

“Well.. Let’s walk the pretty lady home.”


She isn’t thinking about much outside of her partner in a hospital bed. She isn’t thinking about much, aside from hooves coming down and the horror in Peter’s -- Max’s -- eyes. This chaos (every goddamn bit of it) is courtesy of one single god -- just one, Eris, she thinks -- and it’s enough to make Cara’s blood boil. Cara’s a fighter by nature; one that prides herself on her wit and intelligence over brute force, a departure from her stellar counterpart. This, she surmises, is what makes her uniquely-suited for the task of catching an uncatchable fox: a giant creature that only the heavens themselves could pacify.

When the taller of the two cosmos-dwellers in the situation walks down the sidewalk, eyes shifting back and forth for any sign of her adversary, she meets the world with a swing to her step. There’s a broadness to her shoulders and a strength to her stride that leaves a wake of glances behind her. She doesn’t balk away from the attention.

Instead, she shoves her hands into her pockets, rounding a side-street near Battery Park when she hears the first tires squeal. There’s a thundering sound, static that pricks the tiny hairs on her arms, and a gust of wind that can only be described as baffling. It happens all at once, and then nothing at all. The light explodes, and then it dissipates.. Streaking away just as a car smashes into a parking meter. Do what it takes to keep us safe, she and Wyatt had agreed early one morning.. And with a breath, Cara waits for the next pass like sprinter awaiting the starter pistol.

The adrenaline mounts as she counts down, closing her eyes as she gives herself over to the stars, maintaining some strangely even-keel as the light builds from within, pouring from her mouth, glowing behind her eyelids. She hardly notices the atoms of her clothing shimmering and rearranging themselves; it’s only the enclosure of her neck in a sturdy collar that grabs her attention. The Kree hala star gleams on her chest now, fists and forearms in crimson gauntlets of their own. There are boots and tech panels that she instinctively knows how to operate. This is the most recognizable Cara has ever been; solar energy warping the air around her, wrapped like a doll in a battle uniform that’s been splashed across posters, toys, and merchandise worldwide.

.. And it’s now or never.

When the fox rounds again, this time, she’s ready. And much to Teddy Soriano’s chagrin.. She doesn’t use her feet to meet the beast’s incredible speed. On July 16, in the early evening, near San Francisco’s Battery Park, Captain Marvel seared through the streets and between buildings.. Shadow government organizations be damned. They’d thank her later, she mused, spiraling with the galloping streak of a fox back toward the cosmos. They had to.. But they’d have to catch her first.