“Ah really like the new haircut.”
Carol’s hair was now the shortest it had been since she’d joined the Airforce more than fifteen years ago. It was a practical choice, as she was getting less sleep than ever between her duties as Earth’s Ambassador Extraordinary to alien species, her work with the Ultimates, her full-time job as the director of Alpha Flight, and the occasional Avengers reunion. It was simply easier to maintain than the flowing locks she’d had for a decade.
“You and every other woman I meet,” Carol answered with a roll of her eyes. “I’ve never received so many compliments in my life. Can’t figure out why.”
“Auntie.” Rogue raised her eyebrows and smirked. “You can’t be that clueless.”
“What do you mean?” Carol balked, not appreciating the insult to her intelligence.
“Would you like to set up a date with you an’ Storm, sugah?” Rogue asked sarcastically.
“Oh.” Oh. Sheesh, maybe Carol was clueless. Now she couldn’t stop blushing, and Rogue’s smug expression wasn’t helping matters at all. “Thanks, but me and Rhodey kind of have a thing going on right now and...”
“Yeah, and she and Logan are dating again,” Rogue cut her off. “And Ah bet T’Challa would be pretty mad if he caught you in bed with his ex-queen.”
“Remind me to put you over my knee the next time I see you in person,” Carol nearly growled. It was unfair for Rogue to tease her like that, especially when she was safe on Earth and Carol was lightyears away. “I called looking for some adult conversation, and instead you’re just as bad as Kamala. You’re even ‘shipping’ me.”
“‘Shipping?’ What the hell is that?” Rogue laughed.
“Relation-shipping. It’s a thing that fans on the internet do,” Carol explained. “Kamala thinks I should be dating Spider-Man, you think I should be dating Storm, apparently half the internet thinks I should be marrying Tony or Thor...”
“That sounds exhausting. Does the kid ship me with anyone?”
Now it was Carol’s turn to give Rogue a sarcastic look. “Who do you think, dummy?”
Rogue’s face flushed. “Shut up! Ah’ll call him when Ah’m good an’ ready.”
“You better. Even Remy won’t wait forever, sweetie.” Carol was enjoying turning the tables on Rogue. Few of her co-workers kept her wit as sharp.
“So how’s the birthday going, anyway?” Rogue abruptly changed the subject. “Awful nice of you to take her off-world for her sweet sixteen.”
“Well, Tony promised to do something fun for her and completely dropped the ball, so I figured I’d step in before she gets disillusioned,” Carol explained. “It wouldn’t be my first choice, but it does get me out of the office. I’m trying to find the right planet to take her to. Somewhere cool and weird, but safe, so we can just relax and not worry about anything or...”
“HELLLLLLLLP!”
Kamala’s high-pitched squeal of panic left both women stunned silent.
“I... better see what that’s about. Bye.”
“Good luck!” Rogue hollered before signing off of the call.
“Kamala!” Carol took off from her seat, flying rather than running so that she could find Kamala as quickly as possible. The cry had come from Kamala’s communicator, so Carol activated its tracking beacon. “Kamala, calm down and answer me. What’s going on?”
“I’m trapped. I don’t know what I did and I don’t know how to get out of here.” The girl was talking very quickly and at a pitch that hurt Carol’s ears.
“Where is ‘here’, Kamala?” Carol grumbled. But she was aware soon enough: the tracker led her to her ship’s escape pod. Behind the round window was the pouting face of Kamala Khan, squished nervously against the glass. Carol buried her own face in her hand. “Kid. What are you doing in there? I explicitly told you not to play in the escape pod.”
“I wasn’t playing, I was educating myself about how it works,” Kamala argued, though she cowed as soon as Carol crossed her arms. “I just think I misread the manual and now I’m stuck in here. The door won’t open even though I keep pushing the same button over and over.”
“Yeah, I know, calm down,” Carol ordered, waving Kamala down with her hands. “Kree flight manuals are weird. It seals tight because you’re supposed to get in and escape in an emergency. You need to override the programming by opening the panel on your left and flipping the switches...”
Kamala was following Carol’s instructions, but got ahead of herself. As soon as she’d flipped all of the switches, the interior lights started flashing red.
“...in a specific sequence. Ugh, Kamala! Slow down and listen to me!” Carol grumbled.
“What did I do?” Kamala gasped. “I did exactly what you said and...”
Carol never got to hear the end of Kamala’s sentence. Instead of overriding the program that kept the pod’s door closed, she’d overridden the magnetic locks that kept it sealed in place. The pod had rocketed off of Carol’s spaceship, going far out of the communicator’s range and tracking to the nearest planet. Once it was close enough, gravity would do the rest.
“Shit.”
Carol rushed back to the flight console to get a bearing on the pod’s location and pursued it. Thankfully, they were in close proximity to a planet, one filled with magenta soil, teal seas and nothing in the way of civilization. It was a comparatively young world, analogous to Earth’s Triassic Period in terms of its development. Her computer had precious little information on it, but at least the atmosphere was rich with oxygen. Kamala wouldn’t suffocate if she left the pod, but there was no telling what dangers waited for her if she did.
“If I have to tell your parents that you got eaten by an alien dinosaur...” Carol muttered to herself as she approached the planet. Unfortunately, an electromagnetic anomaly in the atmosphere scrambled her ship’s navigation systems; she’d come as close as she could to where Kamala’s pod had fallen, but couldn’t get an exact location. She decided to park her ship on a peaceful looking plateau covered in literal blue grass and flowers, with nothing more threatening than a few fluttering insects. Once she was safely parked, Carol grabbed a backpack with medical supplies and other survival tools and left the ship. Once outside, she took a moment to adjust to the increased levels of oxygen before launching herself into the air.
The surrounding area was mostly grassland, with copses of glassy trees gathered around sparkling rivers where the herds of the larger fauna gathered to drink. It was beautiful, a world untouched by agriculture and industry, and Carol would have liked to take in the sights. But she had more pressing concerns. She flew until their communicators synced up, and followed Kamala's signal until she saw a pillar of smoke billowing over a mangrove.
When she tried to fly in through the canopy, she realized that very little light reached beneath it, and after zooming through a mess of thorns that tore at her uniform, decided it was best to travel on foot. Once on the ground, she retrieved a flashlight from her backpack. Powered by energy crystals harvested on Xander, it cast a radiant beam of light that cut through the dark, letting her press forward without exerting any of her own body's energy to glow. She had a lock on Kamala's signal, and followed after it, praying that nothing had happened to the kid.
“Kamala? Kamala, do you read me?”
The lack of response spurred Carol into a run, paying just enough mind to her surroundings that she didn't fall over a log or a rock. Occasionally, she’d catch the skittering of small creatures avoiding her light, but so far she hadn’t encountered anything dangerous. Eventually, she got the positive sign she was looking for: the red dot indicating Kamala’s position was no longer at the edge of her communicator’s compass; she was less than thirty feet to the north.
“Kamala!” Carol hollered in Kamala’s direction, her volume frightening a flock of birds.
“Carol!” The sound of her Kamala’s voice was enough to set Carol’s mind at ease. Unfortunately, it didn’t last long. She was coughing between words. “I need help! I’m stuck!”
“Hold on, I’m coming.” Carol used her photon energy blasts to cut through the trees blocking her path to Kamala. Rather than splintering, they shattered into crystal shards. She came to a clearing where some of the sunlight breached the canopy. Rust colored sand covered most of the ground, with only a few patches of vegetation throughout. One step onto the sand had Carol’s foot sinking about three inches before she pulled it out, and she immediately switched to flying. “Where are you?”
Carol scanned the area, but finally noticed that one of the patches of grass was actually Kamala’s dark brown hair poking out. She flew around and saw that Kamala was up to her nose in quicksand; clearly the viscosity and weight of this planet’s soil was different from Earth’s in the worst way. Carol barely caught a glimpse of Kamala’s terrified eyes before they too sunk beneath the sand
“Don’t panic!” Carol ordered, perhaps more to herself than Kamala. She flew up about thirty feet, gathering her photon energy as she did so, then dived headfirst into the sand. With her velocity, it was enough to displace the sand so she could come up under Kamala and grab her by the waist. Getting up and out was a more difficult matter: even with her strength, the pressure made it difficult to escape. Still, with careful movements of her legs and enough upward thrust from the photon energy she was releasing, she managed to get both their heads above the sand. Both of them gasped for air.
“Carol, help, what do we do, what do we do?” It didn’t take much time for Kamala to regain her motor-mouth.
”Don’t panic.” Carol gently squeezed Kamala, trying to calm her anxiety. She was hyper-ventilating, and would have been squirming if she wasn’t so stuck. “You’ll sink faster that way. Can you try to calm down for me?”
Kamala gradually slowed her breathing, and nodded. “Uh huh.”
“That’s it. Slow down and breathe,” Carol ordered, inhaling and exhaling loudly, encouraging Kamala to imitate her patterns. “Good girl. Now listen carefully.”
Carol guided Kamala through her escape plan. The young inhuman used her elastic powers to anchor her arms around a nearby tree, and then they both moved their bodies slowly to increase the viscosity of the quicksand, helping them ease out of it. It was exhausting, but once Carol was free she was able to use her powers to rocket them out of the swamp, landing safely in one of the fields she’d flown over.
They both took several moments to recover. Carol noticed Kamala seemed to be fighting back tears. Doubtless she found the idea of crying in front of her favorite superhero to be too embarrassing to contemplate.
“Are you okay?” Carol asked, gesturing to the ankle Kamala was nursing with her hands.
“I think I sprained it,” she whimpered. “It’ll be fine if I don’t use my powers; my body heals itself naturally as long as I don’t overexert it.”
“Good.” Carol patted between Kamala’s shoulders and stroked her hair absentmindedly. Relieved that she was safe, Carol remembered to be angry with her, and lightly smacked the back of her hand against Kamala’s shoulder. “I can’t believe you got into that escape pod. I gave you, what, three rules for this trip and you deliberately disobeyed me.”
“I’m sorry, Captain...” Kamala began, but an accusatory finger cut her apology short.
“You should be. I should be giving you a good spanking, but that’s going to have to wait until we’re safe on my ship,” Carol grumbled. She doubted very much that she’d have the heart to actually discipline Kamala, but she needed to voice her disapproval somehow. Her recent interactions with Rogue made corporal punishment jump to the front of her mind.
“Captain!” Kamala squeaked, quickly scooting her threatened heinie out of arm’s reach.
Carol huffed in disapproval, but softened her expression. Kamala’s reaction sated her for now. She knelt down, removed her backpack, and pulled out the bandages and an all-purpose pain relieving ointment.
“Relax, kid. I’m not going to hurt you.” It took a few seconds of deep eye contact, but Kamala seemed to accept it. “Give me your foot and I’ll do what I can to help.”
Carol removed Kamala’s tennis shoe and her sock, placing them in the backpack. She rolled up her legging and took inventory of the damage; Kamala's ankle was swollen and purple with bruising, while lighter marks decorated her calf. The winces that came when Carol gently moved Kamala's foot in a few directions seemed very genuine.
“What happened?” she asked, applying a generous amount of the salve to the affected areas.
“The pod was damaged when it landed. The trees here are way harder than ours, and they really did a number on it,” Kamala explained, trying to relax. “But I figured out how to open the door at least.”
“That's something,” Carol acknowledged, stretching out the bandage wrap. “How did you end up in quicksand?”
“I got startled by this snakelike thing, except it had bat wings. And then I fell backwards and rolled down a hill. That's when I hurt my ankle and fell in.”
Carol listened intently as she wrapped the bandage securely around Kamala's foot. Having it tight would help the medicine do its work, and hopefully keep her from making it worse by twisting it out of position.
“Uh. Carol.”
“Yes?”
“I think we're in trouble.” Kamala's whimper alerted Carol to a low hissing noise that was getting closer.
No. Not a hissing noise. Several of them. When Carol found their source, her heart raced. It would be tempting to say they were surrounded by a pack of wolves, except these creatures had six legs and thick, bony carapaces. She could not see eyes, but large noses at the end of their crocodilian snouts were frantically sniffing them out. Long, wiry tongues jutted in and out of their toothy maws.
All in all, she could see at least twenty, and more were arriving, drawn in by easy prey.
“Get ready.” Carol pulled Kamala to her feet, and the sudden movement made the beasts close in and snap their jaws. “And don't hold back. We didn't come to this forsaken rock to get eaten.”
Carol blasted the first creature that lunged at her, which set the rest swarming on them. Carol would probably be able to fly away safely, but with an injured Kamala she wasn't willing to leave behind, it was smarter to keep her guard up than to try and carry her off. Kamala had embiggened her fists to ward off her half of the pack, but the lack of quips and anime attack names told Carol that Kamala was putting in more effort than she was comfortable with.
That suspicion was confirmed when she collapsed, unable to support her weight on her leg. Carol reacted fast enough to kick one of the predators away from Kamala, but the numbers game was catching up to her and every photon blast was pulling from her considerably drained energy resources.
Thinking fast, Carol reached for her flashlight and crushed it in her hands. The crystal powering it exploded with a bang, startling the beasts. Carol focused, absorbing all of the energy into her body until she was glowing. Her hair transformed into a crown of flame as she went Binary, tapping into her ultimate state of power so she could cut down the whole pack with a pair of high intensity beams.
Those that survived ran off, convinced they weren't worth the effort. Worn out from exhausting the small source of energy so quickly, Carol took a knee. Her eyes darted in every direction, wary of any more dangers this planet had to throw their way.
“That was so cool!” Kamala exclaimed, her pain temporarily forgotten as she burst into a series of colorful sound effects. “You're awesome. And scary, but mostly awesome.”
“Yeah,” Carol huffed, before smirking. “I am.”
She felt a little less confident when she tried to stand up. Her legs were shaky, and she could tell that she'd used more of her energy reserves than was really smart. Unless she came across a massive source, it was going to take her a few hours to recharge.
“Okay. Flying is out of the picture for a bit,” she informed Kamala. “We're going to have to travel on foot.”
The teenager pouted at her, gesturing at her bandages.
“Oh yeah.” Carol laughed weakly. She stood up, rested her hands on her knees, and took a moment to think. “Okay, I'll be walking. You'll carry this.”
She removed her backpack and approached Kamala. Once she had the backpack on, Carol cradled her and lifted her back onto her feet. Then she walked in front of Kamala, grabbed her legs, and boosted her onto her back.
“Okay, hang on. Just rest and let your body heal. I'll get you back safe and sound.”
Kamala rode piggyback, clinging tightly to her hero as Carol got a bearing on their ship's relative location. It was about three miles away from them. If they could avoid any more near-death experiences, they should be back on the ship within an hour at Carol’s usual pace. Carrying Kamala was no great strain; while she’d exhausted her energy projection abilities for the time being and flight would tire her out, her strength and stamina were ever present. She took a deep breath and started to run.
About five minutes into this endeavor, Kamala was consumed with a fit of giggles. She tried to contain it at first, but as Carol leapt over a small creek, the laughter burst out of her. Carol was reminded of nieces and nephews playing with fireworks at the last Fourth of July family event she’d attended; youngsters without a care in the world, simply enjoying their lives. That Kamala could go through as much danger and stress as she had today and still find simple joy brought a smile to Carol’s face.
“What are you so happy about, Ms. Marvel?” It was difficult to refer to Kamala by her old codename without being a bit mocking. Kamala hadn’t asked for her blessing before using it, but simply took it for her own when Carol took Mar-Vell’s title of Captain.
“You’re kidding right? Captain Marvel is giving me a piggyback ride on an alien world. I probably have drawings of this somewhere in old notebooks,” Kamala explained. “Best birthday ever!” Then she made a high-pitched noise directly into Carol’s ears that made her wince. Carol recalled the girl referring to such an abomination as “squee.”
“Yeah well, you shouldn’t be on this planet, Missy,” Carol scolded lightly, unable to feign any genuine anger. “You got hurt, and it could have been a lot worse. You’re lucky I was around to get you out of this mess.”
“You’re right,” Kamala agreed. “Thanks for bailing me out, Captain. I don’t think I’m quite ready to have these kinds of adventures on my own just yet. I should probably just stay in New Jersey, and maybe New York occasionally.”
“Glad we agree on that, kid.”
Carol knew that nothing was going to keep Kamala from being a hero; she had fantastic powers, a good heart and a genuine obsession with superheroes. Frankly, Carol was just glad Kamala wasn’t the sort of bratty kid who would use her powers for crime, or even just personal gain. She wanted to make her community safer. And as long as her heroics were contained to the relative safety of New Jersey, Carol didn’t have a problem with that. Space adventures and Avengers level threats though? That could wait until Kamala graduated high school. Preferably college.
She indulged Kamala for the rest of the run, listening absentmindedly to a recap of her recent fanfic about how Cyclops and Wolverine should resolve their problems by becoming boyfriends. It kept the girl focused instead of having her attention pulled away by the wondrous sights of the planet. But it also made Carol laugh, and she needed something fun and frivolous after stressing so much about Kamala’s well-being.
At last, they made it to the ship, and Carol took a deep breath. “Okay, kiddo. How’s the ankle? Can you walk now?”
“Oh, yeah,” Kamala answered meekly as she dismounted Carol. “It’s been okay for about ten minutes or so. I was just having too much fun, so I didn’t say anything.”
Carol scowled playfully and gave into the impulse to pop Kamala’s bottom with her hand. The girl jumped, flushed and stepped out of reach of Carol’s arm.
“Captain!” she whined.
“Go buckle up, sport. I don’t plan on staying here any longer than I’ve got to. Also, this is probably going to have to count as the field trip I had planned for you. We’ve got to get you home soon,” she reminded Kamala. Carol had managed to convince Kamala’s parents that she was Kamala’s physics teacher, and that she’d earned a special outing because of her exceptional grades. They were a sweet couple, but were not particularly interested in superheroes, preferring to live their lives with as much normalcy and routine as possible. It worked out for this occasion.
A short while later, Carol had rocketed them off into space. She sent Kamala off to the ship’s shower unit with instructions to change out of her Ms. Marvel uniform so that she could pack it up. Really, it was about giving herself twenty minutes of time where she could unwind without worrying about where Kamala was or what she was doing. After risking life and limb to save her, she deserved a little peace and quiet... or a little peace and loud Kenny Loggins. The auto-pilot did its job, and Carol decompressed.
By the time Kamala had returned to the main room of the ship wearing a Captain America shirt and a set of pink pajama pants with unicorns on them, Carol was once again ready to engage with her. Kamala was standing in front of her, but avoiding her gaze. Between the avoidant behavior and the twiddling of thumbs, Carol knew she was anxious about something.
“What’s got you all keyed up, Kamala?”
“Oh. Um. I guess I was wondering if... well, you know...” She made vague sweeping motions with her hands. “And if you are then well, you should do it now that we’re on the ship. You know?”
“Do what?” Carol asked, not at all sure what Kamala was avoiding talking about.
”Come on! You know!” Kamala whimpered, stomping her foot as she did so. “Are you gonna... I mean, am I gonna get a, uh... you know.”
Carol shrugged her shoulders. “A what?”
Kamala winced and shut her eyes tightly before whispering. “A spanking?”
“Ohhh.” Carol had completely forgotten the offhand comment she’d made when telling Kamala off for taking the escape pod. She’d been so flustered between saving Kamala, tending to her injury and scolding her that it was all a bit of a blur. “I did say you deserved a good spanking, didn’t I?”
“Y-you did,” Kamala squeaked. “So... are you gonna do it?”
Carol rolled her eyes. “I wasn’t really planning to.”
Kamala breathed a sigh of relief, and grinned mischievously. “Oh, thank goodness.”
Carol was not amused by how Kamala’s body language conveyed that she thought she was getting away with something. “Unless you think I should spank you?”
“No!” Kamala assured her. “I just... well, when I disobeyed Sue Storm when she told me not to get involved in a fight, she took me to the Baxter Building and spanked me. And Wolverine also spanked me when we were chasing down this bad guy in the New Jersey sewers and I got a little mouthy because he insisted that I had to do what he said. So... I guess I expected a spanking when we got to the ship?”
Of course Wolverine has spanked you. Why am I surprised? Carol managed to keep this thought to herself. She took inventory of Kamala, who was now clenching her teeth and clasping her arm nervously. Carol thought she had the same energy as a piece of bubblegum that had been chewed on, blown up, and was ready to pop.
“So. You make a habit of being naughty around other superheroes, hmm?” Carol asked.
“What? I... I do not. Carol, I didn’t say...”
“You just told me that on two different occasions you refused to listen to grown up superheroes. Adults with much more experience than you, who were trying to keep you safe, but you just had to disobey them,” Carol recounted. “That’s what you told me, isn’t it?”
Kamala was now blushing scarlet. “Uh. Well... I mean, yes, but...”
“That’s the definition of naughty, Kamala. And despite being so naughty that you’ve gotten spanked on two occasions for disobeying, you still thought it was a perfectly acceptable idea to play around that escape pod, even thought I told you not to,” Carol reminded her. “Am I omitting anything?”
“Uh. No. No, that pretty much covers it,” Kamala whimpered.
Two generations of Marvels looked each other in the eyes, one set pleading, the other set piercing into the soul of the one who was squirming where she stood.
“I’ve talked myself into getting spanked again, haven’t I?” Kamala lamented.
“‘Fraid so, kiddo.” Carol offered Kamala her left hand. “Want me to get it over with?”
Kamala nodded furiously as she took the offered hand. She sniffled and whimpered as Carol pulled her close and guided her over her lap, but didn’t offer any resistance. The acceptance of her fate further endeared Kamala to Carol. It was a reminder of Kamala’s strong moral center and her willingness to grow. Carol might not have chosen her to be Ms. Marvel, but Kamala was certainly earning the name. Kamala rested her legs and upper body on either side of the bench that Carol had taken residence on, but her bottom was right over Carol’s lap.
Carol wrapped her left arm firmly around Kamala’s waist and considered the pajama bottoms. They weren’t too much cushion, and she was sure the teenager would prefer to have some privacy while she was punished. But ultimately, Carol decided she’d rather see what she was doing. So she pulled them down a few inches at a time.
“Noo!” Kamala whined, the first genuine protest against her consequences. She threw a hand back to cover her bottom. “Carol, please!”
“Kamala, really.” At first, Carol was sure that Kamala was just upset about losing a protective layer. But once she moved the girl’s hand out of the way, she had a suspicion that Kamala’s distress was more linked to embarrassment. Now that the pajama pants were down, the only thing covering Kamala’s poor tush was a pair of red and blue panties, the two dominant colors cut in half with a distinct pair of yellow stripes and a star in the middle. “Where did you get this ridiculous thing?”
“BeeUndies,” Kamala nearly whispered.
“Oh, I see.” So Janet Van Dyne, also known as the Wasp (founding Avenger, costume designer and shrewd entrepreneur) was already profiting off of Carol’s most recent look. It hadn’t even been half a year. Carol tried very hard not to laugh, but failed.
“Carol!” Kamala hollered, kicking her feet and trying to squirm free. “Don’t make fun of me! It’s not nice.”
“I... I am not making fun of you,” Carol assured Kamala when she could stop chuckling. “I am just amused. I know they’re comfy, and I shouldn’t be remotely surprised that you’re wearing this. It just caught me off guard is all.”
Well. If Kamala wanted to plaster Carol’s brand all over her butt, then Carol supposed she had more than enough justification to give that butt a good hiding. Kamala loved all superheroes, but Carol was her favorite. Perhaps from her, the lesson might stick. She placed a cupped hand on the roundest part of Kamala’s bottom and began to smack.
“Ow! Oww! Ouch!” Kamala was yelping as soon as Carol went to work. “Carol, I’m sorry!”
Rogue had given Carol plenty of practice in the art of administering a good spanking recently, though she was much gentler with the teenager. Honestly, she was aiming for louder instead of harder. She focused her early attention on the parts of her bottom with the most cushion, and watched the angry red creep into Kamala’s honey complexion. Then she migrated up to smack closer to the waistband of Kamala’s panties.
“Oww, I’m sorry! Carol, come on!” Kamala was just as squirmy as she was whiny, but Carol’s superpowered grip was far too strong for her to break. “Ouch! It hurts!”
“I know,” Carol acknowledged, keeping a level, even gentle tone in her voice. “But it hurts a lot less than getting eaten by alien monsters or suffocating in quicksand. Don’t you agree?”
“Ouch! Well, yeah but that’s not fair! I didn’t mean to get in that kind of trouble,” Kamala argued. Her bottom was wiggling furiously as Carol let her aim wander lower, even brushing against Kamala’s bare thighs a few times. But the rest of her was staying firmly in place.
“But you did get into that escape pod after I told you not to,” Carol reminded her. “I shouldn’t have to keep my eyes on you at all times just to make sure you aren’t playing somewhere you aren’t supposed to. You’re sixteen years old, Kamala. You should be able to behave.”
Carol spanked harder then, wanting to instill the lesson she was teaching. “We won’t always be here to save you, Kamala. If you want to be Ms. Marvel, then you have to learn to be responsible. To make safe choices.”
“But Carol!” Kamala whimpered between pained hisses. “It’s a hero’s job to go into danger! To take it head on and punch it in the face! Oww, oww!”
“Yes. We put ourselves in danger so others are safe. But part of being a hero, and not just a crimefighter looking to become famous, means that you have to know how to protect people. To make the safe decisions for them. And if you can’t even properly assess when you’re doing something too dangerous, how can I trust you to make those decisions for other people? People who don’t have super strength or an elastic body that heals? Hmm?”
Carol was delivering hard spanks in sets of three now, making sure her target felt the stinging heat swell and flare beneath and across the skin before moving on. She was sure that Kamala was getting adequate help in learning this lesson.
“Okay, okay! I’m sorry for disobeying and not being safe! I promise that I’ll make better decisions in the future. Oww! Oww! I mean it, Ms. Captain Marvel, Ma’am. Seriously!” Despite the tears, Kamala seemed to be resolute in this decision to be good.
“You better mean it, Kamala Khan,” Carol scolded, focusing all her effort on reddening the skin peeking out under the underwear. “Today, you’ve been through a lot, so I’m not going to spank you too much. But if I catch you being naughty again, or even hear about it, I’ll fly to New Jersey and give you another spanking. A hard one.”
“With a sandal?” Kamala gulped, cluing Carol into how her parents’ child rearing techniques.
“Or a hairbrush, or a wooden spoon,” Carol suggested as she warmed Kamala’s bottom with her palm. “Something mean enough to make my point. And you won’t get to keep your panties on next time.”
“Oww! But.. but Carol!” Kamala argued, squirming and kicking with more fervor. “I’ve got a very delicate heinie! Ouch! If I get a hard spanking you might cause permanent damage!”
“If you’ve survived a trip over Logan’s knee, you can take anything I’d dish out to you,” Carol dismissed, smacking harder to distract herself from Kamala’s protests. The little brat had no business being so adorable when she was supposed to be getting punished. “But I shouldn’t have to worry about that. Because you’re going to be a good girl, aren’t you?”
“Ouch! Yes! Oww! Yes, Captain! I’ll be good,” Kamala swore. “I will be a good little superhero! I promise! Oww, oww!”
Carol spanked only a little longer, while she still had the heart to administer the sharp slaps. But eventually Kamala’s pleas, tears and promises wore down Carol’s resolve. She delivered one more hard spank on each cheek, then set her “good little superhero” back on her feet.
Kamala was pouting, and tears stained her flushed face, but she wasn’t too distressed. Carol felt a little guilty for spanking her, but frankly, she could have done a lot worse and Kamala would have deserved it. But Carol thought a sprained ankle and some nightmare-inducing close calls would compliment the effect of a spanking whenever Kamala considered the consequences of not doing what she was told.
“Hey, sport. Are you mad at me?” Carol asked, squeezing Kamala’s shoulders.
“A little,” Kamala grumbled, folding her arms in front of her. It was less of an angry crossing and more like self-comforting pressure, at least as far as Carol could tell.
“Too mad for a hug?”
Kamala shook her head emphatically, and Carol pulled Kamala into a warm embrace. She’d always accepted Kamala’s enthusiastic hugs, even when it was annoying to do so. The girl was so excitable and impressionable, and genuinely thought the world of Carol even though she didn’t really know her that well. It was actually nice to have someone who loved her that blindly. She hoped that after a few adventures and a trip over Carol’s knee, Kamala hadn’t regretted meeting her hero just yet.
Judging by the strength of Kamala’s return hug, she hadn’t.
“Good girl,” Carol asserted as she pulled Kamala’s pajamas back up to cover the effects of the spanking. She gave into an impulse to swat Kamala’s bottom one more time. “Don’t you scare me like that again. Okay?”
“Okay,” Kamala agreed, wiping her eyes and then rubbing her bottom. She took a deep breath, and managed to remember her smile. “I promise I won’t.”
“Good. Now settle in.” Carol stood up and made her way back to the cockpit of the spaceship, with Kamala trailing after her, wincing but otherwise as happy as ever. “I know a place that serves the best ice cream this side of the Shi’ar Empire. We should have time to get you a nice treat before we have to get you back home.”