章 87: Ember of the phoeinx part 5 part 2
Chandilar, Throneworld of the Shi'ar Empire:
Lilandra's private residence:
Wanda Maximoff:
She had no business being here. She always thought that. When she left Sokovia to America and then when she left again for HYDRA, she always thought she had no business there. But that was exactly why she wanted to be there.
If she lived her life by where she had to be and who she had to be, then well, she would have lived a weak little girl for the rest of her life. Which was exactly why she always did things she felt she had no business doing.
Defending the world against an interdimensional threat, going into space, fighting aliens in invasion, freeing slaves...she had no business doing any of that, but...well, she did it nonetheless..
But now, this moment, she truly felt like she had no business being here. In this room where mere seconds ago, Jean Grey had screamed so loudly Wanda was afraid the soldiers would hear anc oem knocking.
Luckily nothing like that happened, luckily they had Susan Storm with them, Earth's leading leading expert on genetics and the Fantastic Four's common sense. She was basically over qualified serving as a wethurse.
But it was thanks to her that Jean had given birth with no complications. It was a rush, the last two days. The whole of the first day was spent preparing the house against an invading force and Jean's delivery room for birth.
Sue had coordinated the whole effort, Johnny had taken care of sterilization, Quill got the drugs they would need, which Use specifically asked for. Scott and Felicia helped comfort Jean through the process and Wanda...well Wanda helped where she could.
It was a battle, one Wanda feared more than anyone before. Because if they lost this one, they would lose Jean and a baby...and there was nothing they could do to help. All they could do was stand by and let Jean do her best.
It was like gambling, only someone else was using your money. A crude metaphor, but accurate. Wanda thought she was going to go mad, the birthing process had continued on for what felt like hours, and then just as dawn broke on the second day, Jean's cries ended, and a new one took her place.
Sue was the first human being to hold the baby, Johnny washed her, Scott brought the child to Jean's arms. She cried, hell, they all did, but Jean cried the most. She swaddled the baby for hours, feeding her, refusing to let her alone for more than a few seconds.
She passed the baby to Felicia, because of course she did. Felicia was overjoyed, the way tears fell from her eyes one would think she was holding her own child. She held the child the most after Jean. And then slowly everyone held little Hope, until it finally came to Wanda.
She looked down, expecting to see an exact copy of Jean, after all the whole deal with Angela taught them that an Ember resembled their host mother more than their father, even going as far as all having red hair. But, when she held Hope in her arms, Wanda noticed something different the moment she opened her eyes.
"She has Peter's eyes," Wanda whispered.
"No, they look green to me," Johnny replied, looking over her shoulder at Hope's brilliant green orbs.
"No, I mean...the shape, they look like his...she has his face too," Wanda continued, looking to JEan who nodded.
"I guess in some ways, this Hope Parker won't be like the one we met so long ago in the Baxter building...for one thing she's going to be much older..." Jean struggled to speak.
"You should get some rest," Felicia said quickly, "we need to move quickly tonight, Lilandra said that D'Ken beginning to look outwards for us, so we better strike while the iron's hot."
"I suppose," Jean whispered, drained, "could you-"
"We'll take care of her," Wanda found herself saying quickly, Jean looked at her and Wanda nodded with determination, "so you can get some rest, I promise I'll...we'll take care of her."
"Thank you," Jean replied, closing her eyes and dozing off, her breath steady.
"She's going to be knocked out for a while," Susan spoke up, "from what I can tell she's been through hell. The pregnancy should have killed her, I think the only reason she didn't die was because of the thing inside her."
"The Phoenix?" Johnny asked, his sister nodded, "well I guess it was useful for something after all..."
"When will she wake up?" Felicia asked, "Lilandra said we should leave as soon as we can, preferably by tomorrow morning."
"I can't tell," Sue shook her head, "I don't have the tools to test her but from what I can tell she's going to be in a deep sleep for a while...the best thing we can do is just...let her rest."
"Waaa!" Hope suddenly began to cry, her tiny newborn thorat screaming louder than most older children.
"Oh god, what's wrong with her?" Felicia asked, quickly rushing to the baby's side.
"Jean was soothing her, telepathically," Wanda whispered, she had detecting the psychic link between mother and child, "she's missing that link, that warmth..."
"Could you?" Felicia asked, motioning to Hope.
"I...I'm not her mother," Wanda whispered, gently rocking Hope to no avail.
"You don't have to be," Feicia replied.
Wanda turned out the bundle in her arms and slowly, linked their minds together. It was like bathing into a sea of chanos. It wasn't dangerous or very deep, but it was chaotic. Emotions ran wild, fear, hope, joy, sadness, she was experiencing them all for the first time.
'It's alright Hope, I'm here,' Wanda sent out feelings of love, warmth, bathing her with memories of spending days under the sun, having a belly full of food, friends, family and slowly...the sea calmed down.
Hope revealed in the memories she shared, her tears stopped. Wanda opened her eyes and smiled, the baby mimicking the action.
"That was amazing," Quill whispered, "you're like the baby whisperer."
"Yeah...I guess I am," Wanda smiled. Maybe...maybe she had it wrong after all. Maybe she did have some business being here.
The Marvel system:
One of the 42 moons of the 8th planet:
Thor, Angela and I stood before the airlock on the spacecraft Thor 'borrowed' from Asgard. With a hiss it opened up into the cold expanses of space and we flew out. I looked down at the satelite I had worked on just a few days ago and didn't recognize it at all.
It had been terraformed by the microbots I had left behind to work on said moon. The entire satellite had been changed, it's surface was still mostly rock, but running across in intricate lines were lines of metal, hinting at the changes made underneath.
In the center of the moon was a large dish, modeled after the Death Star's own design. Around the dish were eight claws, circling the circumference. I motioned Angela and Thor to follow as we floated down the moon's surface, the Asgardian ship with the Warrior's Three and Sif followed behind.
According to the specs on file, the entrance was located right next to the dish. We landed on the very edge on the Souther corner and sure enough a shipping bay was present with it's bay doors wide open.
We landed inside and the moment the ship was locked in the bay doors closed. There was a whirl of energy and slowly the pressure began to normalise and air began flooding in.
"How is there breathable air here?" Angela asked.
"The program was designed to melt ice found on a nearby asteroid and use the released oxygen as an air supply," I replied, "it's not perfect, but it was a decent solution."
"I see, and what exactly is this place?" Thor asked as the rest of the Asgardians walked out of the ship, looking around in amazement at the structure.
"It's a weapon," I told them, motioning them to follow as were exited the hangar bay, walking into the heart of the moon.
The internal structure was nothing to admire, plain blank stoney walls, no lighting even, we used Angela's spear to light the way. I had designed this that such things wouldn't be needed, this place was made for one purpose and one purpose alone.
The long hallway ended at a door that opened up and revealed a massive observation deck with a single chair in the middle. The deck had open windows so that one could look out into the void of space, the chair was made of marble and had wires plugged into the bottom and running off into every corner of the room.
I walked up to the chair and sat down. There was a click and within seconds several hundred thousand holograms came alive around the seat, displaying everything from the energy situation to the oxygen supply to the density of the outer hard shell of the satellite.
"How is it responding?" Volstagg asked, looking at the holograms in awe.
"Behind the walls are switches, intricate designs," I typed away the commands and the wall to the right were lowered, displaying several switches and levers hidden behind the walls, "whenever I walk into a room or need to activate something, I use my mind to feel out and tap the correct sequence in order to issue a command."
"But how do you know which one is the right one?" Sif asked, "there must be a hundred of them in this room alone."
"Simple," I pressed a holographic button and typed in a twenty digit password, "I designed the place, every knock and cranny. I know it like the back of my hand."
There was a large creaking sound as a pedestal came out of the ground from behind me. Lowering from the ceiling directly above it were several thick metal covered wires, each capable of conducting enough energy to power a country.
I got up from my seat and reached into my bag of storage. I slowly pulled out a metal sphere and placed it on the pedestal. The Asgardians watched as the wires moved like they were alive and stuck themselves against the orb. For a second, nothing happened, and then, the orb began to glow purple.
Thor's eyes went wide, "Peter, is that-"
"-The Infinity stone of Power," I replied as the stone was pulled up into the ceiling. Suddenly the entire satellite began to shake, it was coming alive and I quickly took my seat again, "I have smaller reactors around the system powering certain key functions, but to use this station properly, well, I needed something with a bit more 'umph'."
"How did you find that?!" Thor asked as he and the others gathered around the throne and held on for dear life.
"Thanos was after it. We stopped him and kept it for safekeeping," I replied as I inputted several commands into the system.
First I ordered the microbots, all of the newly constructed ones, to gathered on the part of the moon that was directly behind the satellite dish. Once they were all there I flipped a switch and with a large rumble, the entire back of the satellite unlocked, floating away, revealing a set of giant thrusters underneath, each the size of a country.
"How did you make this?" Angela asked as they all saw the holographic simulation the throne was playing for me, "it must have taken decades."
"For mortals, yes, but if you used robots, then they don't require rest or pay. And if you also happened to make robots that can replicate indefinitely then the possibilities are limitless. I kept it simple enough though, there wasn't enough time. Other than tunnels and the internal circuitry, there wasn't much to build. Well, other that the weapon the heart of the ship...and the engine."
There was an earthquake. By now the dislocked surface of the planet had gotten far enough away that I could activate the engine without worry of damaging the microbots that was on the floating rock.
They began to whirl to life, slowly growing louder and louder as it was a jerking motion and suddenly the whole satellite began to move forward. Slowly it pulled against the gravitational force that kept it in orbit, the engines peeled it forward as I began completing thousands of system requirements to keep the whole thing in one piece.
And then, slowly, it began to turn.
"How are you doing this?" Sif asked, "the energy alone-"
"That's why you used the Power stone, to power it's system," Thor realised, making everyone turn to me in understanding.
I nodded, "yes...exactly..."
"So, it can fly?" Angela asked.
I smiled, "it can do more than fly. Initiating warp in three, two, one and…." I hit the enter button just as the satellite turned to face way the Marvel system. A giant tear in space appeared before us and in a quickly zip, the satellite bolted through the gate.
Chandilar, Throneworld of the Shi'ar Empire:
Royal Palace:
Lilandra knew something was wrong. D'Ken had summoned her into his private chambers, she knew something must have happened.
The guards opened the doors and motioned her in, she tried to get a read on them but they had the neutral facade that all guards had. When she stepped inside the doors shut behind her, her body jerked a little, fear seeping in.
"Come on Lilandra," D'Ken said as he sat behind his desk, Vulcan to one side and Gladiator to the other. The former looked conflicted, the latter looked broken. Lilandra knew then and there she had been found out.
She walked forward, "brother, why did you summon me in the middle of the night?" her left hand reached into her robes and clicked the distress beacon she had, the Phoenix and her child were no longer safe.
A screen came alive on D'Ken desk, the emperor looked at it, raised an eyebrow, "I'm afraid the distress signal you sent out won't help anyone Lilandra. This room has been installed with a signal jammer."
Lilandra's skin went cold, but she maininted her look of clam, "you certainly have become paranoid brother. And it wasn't a distress signal, it was just a message to my assistant to-"
"-Enough with your lies!" D'Ken roared, jumping to his feet and glaring viciously into her, "you betrayed me! You betrayed our whole empire! Traitor!"
Gladiator was by her side in a second, an arm on her shoulder. "Do not resist."
"Don't touch her!" Vulcan cried out, his eyes glowing yellow.
"Shut up boy!" Ken's arm swung, slapping Vulcan across the face, "she's not family! She threw that title away when she helped release that monster! The bitch deserves nothing but death!"
"This isn't what we agreed!" Vulcan turned to D'Ken, "you promised she wouldn't be harmed!"
"Vulcan, you?" Lilandra looked shocked, "how?"
"The boy is more clever than you think," D'Ken said, sounding almost proud, "he realised it must have been an inside job and immediately suspected you. Searching your chambers found this," D'Ken took out the jammer Lilandra used on the halo, tossing it on his desk, "it was a foolish thing Lilandra, not even properly disposing the evidence."
Lilandra knew right then she was done for. She knew her death was all bus assured. So she did what was natural, she smiled, "well...I was meaning too but appearances had to be kept...I had planned on disposing it when I go home… you will not win D'Ken, you heartless-"
"-Shut her up," D'Ken snapped his fingers, Gladiator covered Lilandra's mouth, "take as many troops as you need and attack every single property she has. She didn't have much time to plan this so she couldn't have prepared an off site place for them."
"Yes, my Emperor," Gladiator bowed, walking out with a bound Lilandra.
D'Ken turned to Vulcan, "you did well boy, but next time you speak out of turn I'll cut your tongue out," he walked away from Vulcan, the latter's heads hanging in shame, "go, celebrate with some woman, the coming morning, you'll see just what happens when someone crosses my will."
As D'Ken left, Vulcan could only ask himself one thing, 'what have I done?'
Lilandra's private residence:
It had been a day since Jean fell asleep and she was slowly starting to look better. Sue kept a constant eye on her and the others helped keeping Hope in shifts, though Wanda and Felicia insisted on the maximum watch time.
It was now the early morning hours, the two moons of Chandilar were out and Scott was the one awake on baby watch. He was slumped in the chair to the side, struggling to keep his eyes open. He really wished Peter was here, taking care of his baby really should be the dad's job, not the dad's friend's job.
It was a quiet night, in a few hours the morning would come again and they would have to move, hopefully Jean would be awake by then.
Scott looked out the window, his eyes locked into the horizon as surrounding the mansion they stayed in was nothing but forest, Lilandra said it was a summer retreat home of her so it made sense.
It was a quiet place, nothing but them and the world and….somthign felt wrong. Scott got up and walked to the window, he opened it and looked outside. His eyes narrowed as he heard...nothing.
No sound at all, not even the rustle of leaves, which when surrounded by a forest was a difficult thing to happen. It was almost like-
BOOM!
The force field surrounding the mansion came alive as a ball of plasma hit it, hard.
"Wa!" baby Hope began to cry, Scott ran to the crib and picked her up in his arms, running out of the room, just as Felicia almost ran for them.
"What the hell just happened?!" Scott asked, trying to lull Hope back to sleep.
"We're being attacked!" Felicia replied, "my suit's AI said several ships just suddenly appeared over the horizon and are firing at us! They found us, come on!"
Scott followed her as they made their way down to the basement, "did Lilandra sell us out?"
"Why would she? If she did she would be just in much trouble as us," Felicia reasoned, clicking her teeth, "they must have gotten to her. Come on!"
They ran to the stairs, where Wanda came bursting through with Jean floating behind her, still asleep. They ran to the basement, all of them, by the time the forcefield broke down the had reached the darkened cell, Felicia locking the door behind them.
"What now?" Quill asked as he and the others got ready for a fight.
"Lilandra told us a secret exit in case of emergencies," Susan explained, quickly running to the far wall, feeling around with her hands, landing on the right square. There was a click as the wall came down, revealing a deep tunnel on the other side.
They ran, Scott's grip on Hope tightened, he was afraid to even think about what they would do if they found the baby. He heard about the mural of scalps in the prisoner the Shi'ar Empire had for Embers, he won't let that happen to her, not on his watch.
The tunnel eventually ended at a ladder to a manhole cover. The climbed up, Jean and Hope were given special care when moved, and they found themselves in a bunker with steel doors and a van.
Climbing on, Johnny took the wheel and once everyone was inside he burst through, exploding through the gates and hitting the sky. Scott looked over, they were miles away from Lilandra home and the military forces.
"Where now?" Johnny asked Felicia.
The silver cat looked unsure, after all their plans had gone to shit. She bit her lips, "a port. We steal a ship and get the fuck out of here."
"The only place we can get a ship is probably the city...where they would be sure to find us," Wanda argued.
"We don't have a choice," Felicia replied, "the longer we stay here the more dangerous it is...we have to leave, we'll just have to take our chances."
They didn't like it, but it was the only option left. So Johnny flew them into the city, keeping low and doing their best not to stand out. Over to the south, Johnny noticed a spaceport and quickly brought the van down.
"Waaa!" Hope began to cry the moment they stepped out.
"Come on Hopey, not right now," Scott begged, holding the child in his arms, failing to get her to stop.
"Here, let me," Felicia took Hope, managing to quiet her down with a gentle sway, humming and softly patting her head. The cries slowly went down, much to the amazement of everyone around.
"How did you do that?" Johnny asked.
"Just good with kids I guess," Felicia shrugged, looking down at Hope and smiling.
"The morning is coming up," Gamora quickly motioned to the sky which was slowly changing colour, "we need to move now."
They agreed and as quickly as they could, with Jean made invisible by Sue, rushed to the port. The guards there were yawning, tired, clearly having been working all night and ready for a gaurd change. They never saw them coming.
They were blasted away, taken out before they could sound an alarm and the other ripped through the gate running out to the runway, looking for any ship that would take them out of this place.
"There!" Felicia pointed to a small scout ship that resembled the Starjammers design.
They bolted to the ship, but just before they reached, Scott screamed, "stop!"
BOOM!
A yellow beam of energy obliterated the ship. They turned and Vulcan was seen slowly descending from the sky, and behind him, Gladiator.
And almost as if the explosion was a call to act, the entire previously empty air field began to fill with Shi'ar soldiers. The infantry came from the hangars, arms with guns. The airsupport came out from behind tall buildings they were hiding behind and leading them all, was a levitating platform where D'Ken and a dozen men stood. A bleeding and injured Lilandra kneeling at his feet.
It was a trap.
"Capture them, alive," D'Ken ordered with a voice that was barely above a whisper, "do not harm the child and look for the mother. She should be around somewhere, they would not abandon her."
"Gabrille don't do this!" Scott began to plead, "the child is innocent! She literally has the same right to live as you or me!"
"Step away from Scott, I don't want to hurt you," Vulcan said in a broken voice, his hands clearly trembling.
"If you do this, you become no better than the man who killed our mother," Scott spat back.
"My prince?" Gladiator asked, confused.
"Do it boy!" D'Ken growled.
Vulcan turned, his glare leveled at the Emperor, "my mother...did you kill her?"
D'Ken didn't even acknowledge him, turning to Gladiator, "bring me the baby Gladiator!"
"Yes, my king," he turned and flew, his form blurring as he suddenly appeared in front of Felicia. "Give me the child and I will not hurt you."
"Fuck you," Felicia hissed, pulling away as the other came between her and Gladiator.
"Very well, have it your way," Gladiator swept his hands, throwing the other away like they were flies. He walked forward, his hand reach for Hope, Scott was about to blast him, when at the last second Gabrille Summer's appeared beside Gladiator and grabbed his outstretched hand.
Gladiator looked as Gabrille, "my price-"
BOOM!
The sound of the punch made Hope start crying again. The explosion of energy around his body sent Gladiator flying into the sky. "You will not have another weapon to manipulate, you will not ripe another child from it's home," Gabrille stood, the others slowly coming up behind him.
"So it would seem my whole family is surrounded by traitors," D'Ken hissed, kicking Lilandra, "I know this has to be your influence, bitch. What did you say to poison my son's mind?"
"He's not your son! He's my brother!" Scott roared.
"And who might you be?"
"Scott Summers, son of Corsair and Katherine Summers, the woman who you murdered and the brother of the boy you ripped from her womb!"
For a moment D'Ken was silent, before he looked at Gabrielle in dismissal, "of course you're related to Corsair, that man...I should have never taken that deal you whore mother proposed. But she did give me a useful pawn because of it, only now you've run your use as well. Gladiator, kill the prince and the rest. I wanted to keep them alive for interrogation but this seems pointless now. I'm sure the raptor will come to us eventually."
"My Emperor?" Gladiator asked, confusion on his face, "y-you wish for me to kill Vulcan?"
"He's not Vulcan, didn't you hear? He's the son of Corsair, our enemy. Kill him, now," he replied, his orders of dismissal for the boy he raised as his own son were deaf to mercy. It was a command, and Gladiator knew he had to obey.
So he turned and looked to the small team before him. Gladiator sighed, he whispered, "I'm sorry." He gathered his energy, ready to launch forward like a torpedo, when suddenly a soldier cried out.
"What the hell is that?!"
They all looked up, they looked up and they saw it.
A giant orb that came in front of the rising star that was half-way up the horizon at this point. It eclipsed the star, bathing the world in darkness.
"What is going on?! What is that thing?! Someone report!" D'Ken cried out as suddenly the communicator on his wrist light up, displaying a hologram of a man wearing a red mask with black leaf like lens for eyes.
"Are you D'Ken?" the man asked. The voice came out loud and clear. Almost at once everyone turned to the video and those who recognized him had a smile bloom across their faces.
D'Ken looked confused, "I am Emperor D'Ken, yes. Who are you?"
"So you're the guy who's been trying to kill my daughter and her mother huh? I see, nice to finally put a face to the name. And may I say, what a disturbing face it is. Did your line descended from eagles or something because that nose is hooked like hell."
"I'm sorry, but do I know you? How did you get this frequency?"
"Well to answer the second question, I hacked into your network, easy to do if you're me. And as for the first...well, I'm the nightmare your people will talk about for the next half-dozen generations. You think the Phoenix did you wrong? You think you have seen the worst punishment is death by fire? No, it isn't. Keep your eye to the horizon Emperor D'Ken, Emperor of slavers, and don't blink."
Two minutes ago:
"Incoming transmission! It has the Spider's identification tags!" the bridge communication's office called out.
"What does it say?" Bill asked, his head turning to the screen before them. On it were just two words:
'Code: Assemble'
"Everyone! Get ready! If he's coming here then that means we are finally going in!" Carol called out as everyone who was asleep got up fast, arming themselves and getting ready for anything.
"Ma'am, something is coming out of warp space right next to us," an officer cried out, "something massive."
A large shadow suddenly appeared over their heads, the jaws of several people dropped as they saw it move past them.
"What the hell is that?" Bill asked, terror striking his core.
"He did it...son of a bitch did it," Carol whispered.
"Carol...did...did Peter," Bill asked, Carol nodded. They looked at the object, disbelief on their faces.
Logan was the first to recover, "follow behind that thing, now!"
"A-aye aye sir!" replied the pilot as the whole fleet began to move, following behind the literal moon sized ship.
At that moment the Shi'ar fleet began to move, they had obviously noticed the new object in their planetary system.
A squadron of flyers came out of one of the warships making a straight line right ot the satelite Peter was apparently inside.
"We need to protect that ship! Move to intercept!" Carol cried out.
"Ma'am! The Spider's given us orders to wait! He says he got this!" Carol clicked her teeth but nodded, eager to see what was going to happen.
"They are using bombers," Bill noted, recalling the ship design, "if they get to the surface of Peter's ship-"
Bill's words died in his mouth as the tower's surrounding the main dish on the satellite's surface began to light up. They fired a multitude of purple energy beams that swept through the swarm of ships, cutting them apart like a hot blade through butter, even two warships of the Shi'ar armada were caught in the blast, destroyed in seconds.
There was no explosion, no fire. Nothing. It was like one second they were there and the next, gone.
"What type of energy weapon was that?" Carol asked, "I have never seen anything like that."
"That scanners are able to pick out something. It seems to be...antimatter," a silence feel over the people at the claim.
"What's that?' Logan asked.
"It's...it's something that can destroy matter upon contact, unravel them to a subatomic level," Bill explained, "that's why there is no debire left...they were wiped out of existence."
A few pilots survived the hit, but their formation was broken. They turned around to retreat and Peter made no show to stop them, pressing the advantage and moving further into the system.
"H-how many?" Carol asked.
"We can't tell ma'am, there was too much energy, the antimatter readings are blocking our readings," the helmsman replied.
By now the other ships in the Shi'ar fleet had mobilized, standing between Chandilar and their fleet. Bravely ready to defend their home.
For a few seconds, the satelite did nothing, just standing in place, before it slowly angled away from the Shi'ar fleet and Chandilar. Carol had Avenger's fleet get out of the way as the moon's began to point it's giant weapon dish not at the planet, but that their sun.
The Shi'ar knew something was going on, they quickly engaged fighters and sent them hurling at the moon. Carol was about to bring out flyers to protect Peter again when she received another order to stand down.
The surface of the moon began to get bombed, hugh chunks of it was flying away. Slowly the dish began to glow purple. The swarm began to target the dish but by now the energy around that area was so strong their own beams was just battered aside.
And then, it happened. A moment the whole galaxy would hear off in a few days time as a story and the whole universe in a few months time as a myth. Like a lance of purple, a beam of energy shot out, bursting out of the planet and deep into space.
It moved as fast as light, it took seconds for it to reach the star's surface. Purple mixed with yellow and began to swarm attack the plasma inside it. It was akin to watching a bucket of yellow paint mixed with a tub of purple.
The beam of energy acted like the eye to a drain. It pulled the plasma of the star into it, the antimatter energy beam neutralizing the matter into nothing, pulling more in to replace what was lost.
The star was being sucked into itself, until finally, nothing. A little bit of the antimatter energy shot out into space, hitting and disintegrating a portion of the asteroid belt at the edge of the system.
The system was dead. It's planets instead of a circular orbit would now travel in a straight line, like a spun bolo that had it's string cut. The momentum would carry them forward for a while, but in a few days time, they freeze to death.
"What did he do?" Carol asked, horror in her voice.
"What he had too," Logan replied, though he didn't look very understanding either.
Chandilar's surface:
The star was gone. It had been reduced to nothing, literally nothing. The morning had died before it began, leaving them all under the cover of darkness.
"What did he do?! What did he do?!" D'Ken cried out, turning to the intruders who were clearly his allies, "what did he do?!"
They were silent as well, not saying a word.
"M-my Emperor, we must order an immediate evacuation!" Gladiator called out, "we must leave this system immediately! He might turn that thing on us next!"
"No, no he will not," D'Ken turned to the baby and the terrans, "as long as we have them, he won't dare fire on us! Capture the child! Alive!"
Gladiator moved quickly, rushing for the baby first, only to have Gabrille grabbed his arm at the last moment and push him away. He got ready to blast the prince aside, all previous loyalty for him forgotten, only to be blasted on the side by a red energy beam.
Scott's optic blast ent Gladiator flying away. Immediately the rest of the army charged, all of them blasting at them.
Wanda stepped forward, ripping the ground out and placing it before them as cover. She turned to Felicia, "take Hope and run!"
"But what about-"
"-Go!" Wanda cried out.
Felicia didn't argue, turning around and running away. They stood back, Sue and Wanda doing their best to put up barriers. The soldiers didn't fire at Felicia, in fear of hurting Hope. They began to cover her, only for Felicia to activate the stealth function in her suit and slip away, her arms covering and hiding Hope.
They began blasting at the surrounded Avengers, the Summer brothers working in tandem to keep Gladiator distracted, Scott blasting him while Gabrille fought off his punches. When Gladiator tried to take Scott down, Gabrille always got in the way.
It was like they had been fighting together all their lives.
But then, Gladiator had had enough.
He clapped his hands together, the shock wave went out like a tsunami, knocking everyone off their feet, freeing himself of Scott and Grabille.
Gladiator then smashed both fists to the ground causing an earthquake and forming a crater. He looked around, his ears listening, and then, he heard the cry of a baby.
To avoid the shockwave and the following earthquake the thief would have had to jump onto something. Such an action would make a child cry. Which was what Gladiator was counting on.
Before the cry could be muffled Gladiator was at the source, he reached out and sure enough his hand closed in around something.
The cloak dropped as Felicia was picked up into the air with one arm. She covered the crying baby, holding her in her arms, refusing to let go. Slowly the oxygen going to her brain was reduced as she began choking, kicking.
Hope cried, the sound fading to the back for Felicia's mind as she tried to hold on for dear life. Gladiator squeezed harder, Felicia's legs and arms went numb, her arms feel to the side, baby Hope tumbling out.
Gladiator threw her aside and moved to catch the falling baby, when a streak of lightning blurred into him.
krBOOM!
Gladiator had never felt anything like that heat lightning gave off, the power, the speed. His chest was suddenly numb with pain as he felt something inside collapse. His body was already healing itself, like it would, but he felt the pain jolt through his body constantly.
He was panting, his eyes spinning as he looked around, trying to focus, to stop the ringing in his head. He was thrown into the side of a building nearly ten miles away. Thrown through several other towers of metal and concrete.
Gladiator burst out, moving as quickly as he could to the airstrip. And there, standing in a cloak of lightning that radiated out to the sky, luminating the entire darkened land, was a man in red and black. In one arm was the child and the other was helping the woman back on her feet.
He turned, their eyes met, Gladiator felt a shiver go down his spine. The Spider, he was here.
Krakoom!
Lightning roared as suddenly out of the sky a comet of fire and an orb of lightning came flying down to them, followed by a ship that resembled one of the Asgardians armadas.
Gladiator quickly moved towards his Emperor, but all the while his eyes didn't leave the Spider's form. He looked different now, far different than when he last saw him. His armour was different, those gauntlets he wore now, they were dangerous, Gladiator could feel it.
The Spider turned to him and narrowed his eyes. And for a second, Gladiator doubted his skills to keep his charge safe.
He turned to his master, "my Emperor, it is best we leave. There are too many variables involved, we must insure your safety."
"You..you are right," Gladiator could hear the hurt in his voice, but Emperor D'Ken was no fool, they needed to leave, now. Gladiator motioned for the army to move forward and he and the Emperor, along with the Lilandra still captured, moved slowly and quietly away.
The Spider was now with the silver haired woman. He leaned in and whispered, using his hearing Gladiator was able to pick it up, "I'm sorry I'm late. Had to kill a star to set the mood."
"You took your ti-ack," she coughed, rubbing her neck.
The Spider was silent, his eyes stayed to her neck before slowly he turned to the crying child tucked safely in his arms. She was wailing, her lungs so loud they stung Gladiator's sensitive ears.
"Hope," he began, pulling the child in, swadling her, "Hope, it's me, it's daddy," the mask seemed to vanish as the face of a man stricken with streams of tears came out. His hair was cut short, his beard was trimmed, he looked like he shouldn't be more than a few years older than Prince Vulcan.
Was this the man who Gladiator feared? Who he once woke up sweating from a nightmare for? No, he wasn't even a man, he was a child!
"I'm sorry I wasn't here before Hope, but I'm here now," his voice was strained, "I'm sorry mommy and I couldn't protect you, that you had to be born here, so far away from home, but I promise you, one day, I'll take you there, to your real home...where you belong. Okay? Is that a deal honey?"
And to Gladiator's surprise, the baby actually stopped crying.
"How did you do that?" the silver haired woman asked.
"I just spoke to her," the man said with a smile, turning to the now giggling baby, "Felicia, hold her. Keep her safe. I'll end this soon enough and then we can all get out of here."
"You need to help Lilandra," this Felicia woman said, they both turned and finally noticed D'Ken and Gladiator pulling back to the back of the army. The woman scowled, "cowards...without her we couldn't have gotten Hope back...we have to help her."
Gladiator knew he needed to move, he flew in front of Ken's platform and crossed his arms, "I assure you, you will not get passed me again. You'll need an army just to try."
And in that moment, thunder and fire struck the ground, forming a crater into it. Slowly out of the ground walked to more beings that radiated power, both Gladiator knew. The Ember Angela and her brother the God of Thunder.
"I have an army," the Spider replied, marching before the small squadron of people he had by his side. They were so few of them, all surrounded and outnumbered, literally pushed to one corner of the air strip.
Gladiator remembered seeing their faces filled with fear, desperation, but now, now all that washed away. The only thing that remained in their eyes when looking at the literal army they were to face was a look of unrelenting determination.
He stood at the front, as suddenly the dark starry morning gave way to a bright shining beacon. Out from the sky came a woman glowing yellow, wearing a suit of red and blue, the rouge Kree weapon, Vers.
She carried in her arms an orange skinned being and behind him a small fighter ship. More of them had arrived.
Gladiator's eyes went back to the Spider, his mask was back up, his shoulders squared, his arms drawn out, crackling with energy. Everyone grew tense, waiting for the order. Gladiator could see the uncertainty in his own men, they outnumbered them nearly fifty to one, and yet it was his men that looked worried.
"Avengers!" his voice was booming, Gladiator knew every single person heard him. His body began glowing as those gauntlets of his sparked to life, he raised one fist up and called, "ASSEMBLE!"
"ARGH!" the Asgardians were the first to join the battle cry as they charged into superior numbers, not a care of their lives.
They charged, all of them, like maniacs, into a field of laser fire and the strongest battalion the Shi'ar Empire had on hand. And the Avengers began cleaving through them like they were not even there.
Gladiator dropped all procedure and grabbed D'Ken, carrying him away in his arms. The man protested but Gladiator knew he made the right call. He looked behind and saw the Spider land where D'Ken was a few seconds ago and tend to the injured Lilandra.
They met each other's eyes and Gladiator knew that before this war was done they both would do battle.
With Thor:
"Come dear sister admit it! You love this!" Thor smiled, tackling into several soldiers and throwing them aside, "you of all people must enjoy seeing the people who allowed your torture getting beaten!"
"I do not love this Thor, I do this to protect an innocent child from death, that is all," Angela replied as she jumped into the air and threw his spear into an incoming aircraft, hitting it in the side and causing it come plunging down into the ground.
She then held out her hand, summoning her spear bac, which ripped out of the hull of the ship, and used it to slash through a small platoon of soldiers. She looked to Thor who held a smug look on his face.
Angela sighed, "fine baby brother, it's obviously I would enjoy justice, I am an angel after all."
"And an Asgardian! That thrill is also from being in a fight for you life!" Thro smiled, throwing his hammer into the air to hit another aircraft and bring it down.
But before Thor could summon it back he was suddenly attacked upon by a large squadron of soldiers that managed to tackle him down with a small fight ship for a single flyer. They pinned him down and began firing.
The blaster bolts were set to lethal, but for Thor it just stung. He was just about ready to rip them all apart in rage, when he heard a crackle of thunder and the familiar think of uru.
The squadron was blasted aside, a swing and the ship as well. And standing over Thor was a companion of Peter's, the Koriban who Thor remember his fellow Avenger mentioned. And in the horse faced alien's hand was Mjoner.
"Here Mighty Thor, I believe you lost this," the alien said good naturedly, helping Thor to his feet and giving the hammer back to a shocked god, "it's a fine weapon, very well balanced."
"Y-yes well, too much weight and you lose power on the swing..." Thor muttered as Bill nodded, turned and then rushed back into the fight, helping Johnny Storm by keeping a squad of soldiers from blowing him out of the sky.
"Did he just..." Angela asked as she landed beside her brother, "I mean, I didn't think anyone other than you or Spider could lift that."
"No...anyone who is worthy..." Thor muttered, watching Bill's form ripping into soldiers, he turned to Angela, eyes wide, "I will need to talk to him after this."
"Aye, I'm sure," Angela nodded, "now let's show these bastards why it was not a good idea to come after a child's life."
"Gladly," Thor nodded, turning back to back with his sister and rushing through the fight.
With Peter:
I landed next to Felicia and Hope, placing Lilandra as gently as I could before them. She was hurt, bad. Tandy, who had come down in the second ship Carol brought with her, came rushing to help, immediately beining to close some of the open cuts on her body.
"Thank you," I whispered, watching her slowly heal, "if you hadn't done what you did I-I don't know what I would have done."
"I-I couldn't let them hurt an infant," Lilandra whispered, "but you took things too far. You destroyed our star. What will become of my home?"
They all were worried or afraid, I could smell it. "Your people have mastered galactic travel, by my calculations you could move every man, woman, child and animal with the ships you currently possess in less than a week's time. You could rebuild in months and while it would take years to establish you power again, there will not be any lasting damage."
"Other than my home dying!" Lilandra spat back.
"Your home was built on enslaving and murdering thousands of other planets! Thousands of other species! Your people are slavers, you may be nobel Lilandra, and I will always remain grateful for that, but your people were willing to watch a pregnant woman be killed and her unborn child slaughtered! Be grateful that I didn't destroy your armada, be grateful all I did was kill your star. If it was anyone less restrained, the moment I can I would have destroyed your empire! But I will not slaughter millions of people for no reason, I'm not your people."
Lilandra looked afraid, I didn't want to scream at the woman who helped save my daughter, but I refused to take blame for doing what I had to do.
"Then would you be willing to stop this battle without bloodshed?" Lilandra asked.
"I would if I could,t but I don't think there is any other way. D'Ken will not stop coming for us, he has to die."
"Or maybe it would be better if my brother lost his power instead?" Lilandra suggested. I motioned her to continue, "there is a ritual called the right to challenge, when one member of the royal family feels they have a better claim than the existing ruler. They each pick a champion to fight in their stead and the winner is given the title of ruler and the loser is banished. Be my champion, defeat whoever D'Ken picked, probably Gladiator, and this meaningless battle will end."
"With you as the Empress?' I asked.
"Yes, with me as Empress. Someone who not only knows how dangerous you are but is more than willing to leave you all in peace."
She turned this situation into a way to gain more power. I was impressed, I'm sure Fury would be too. But, it was a solution and a good one at that. So I nodded, "fine."
"Help me up," Lilandra ordered, offering her hand.
I turned to Tandy who said, "I fixed most of the cuts, but she's note healed. She needs rest to recover."
"I will recover after my people are safe," Lilandra replied. I helped her up, much to Tandy's annoyance, "can you see them?"
I looked around for Gladiator and saw him flying off into the Royal Palace, D'Ken in his arms, heading in the direction of what seemed to e the Royal Palace, "he's running home."
"If he gets there he will have nor reason to come out, we need to make this public, force his hand, call into question his qualifications before everyone."
"I can do that," I reply, turning to her and holding up my gauntlet, tapping away at a holographic keyboard on it, "I'm hacking into the city's emergency system, I'm assuming it's being prepared to tell people to remain calm and that the star would come back. You ready with what you want to say?"
Lilandra nodded, "yes, begin."
"You're up," I told Liandra nodding to her.
"D'Ken! I hereby challenge you on the grounds of incompetence and sheer neglect of moral values upon which our civilization was built around! You have brought death upon our doors! Your actions of attempted murder of the being of life and rebirth, the Phoenix, and the child she carried has caused life to fight back! You are the reasons our lives are being torn apart! For the light on our world to disappear! For these reasons and more, I hereby challenge you for the right to the throne! Come back with your champion coward! If you dare!"
Suddenly the entire city began to light up, several holographic billboard came alive on the side of buildings and the sky, displaying Lilandra's message to everyone in the city, her voice going clear through the sound of battle raging around her.
The message began playing in a loop. Her tone even and embodying rage, clear and obvious. Some of the soldiers who were fighting stopped, clearly understanding the significance of the call.
My own Avengers stopped as well, looking at me, wondering what I was doing. I motioned to them to wait, I turned to the royal palace, and sure enough, D'Ken and Gladiator returned, the former looking pissed.
"You bitch! Do you know what you have done?!" D'Ken asked, roaring in fury, "you blame me for this?! He did this! Not me! I am the only chance our people have at surviving this monster!"
"No D'Ken, we have already lost," Lilandra spoke, her eyes narrowed, "the moment the Spider took his child back into his arms, we lost the only bargaining chip we had to play. Now, I do what I must to ensure our home doesn't share the same fate as our star."
"You-you harlot," D'Ken growled, snapping to Gladiator, "Gladiator! I chose you as my champion in this battle of nobility!"
Gladiator nodded, stepping forward, "this honor I gladly accept."
Lilandra turned to me, "Spider, I chose you as my champion in this battle of nobility."
I stepped forward, nodding and turning to stare Gladiator down, "this honor I gladly accept."
There was a good fifty foot distance between us. By now the fighting had stopped, the Shi'ar army retreating back well behind their lines, pulling away their defeated, while my Avengers stood side by side, ready for anything.
"Then, as the challenger," Lilandra spoke, "I call this battle to begin!"
I leaned forward, my back leg digging into the ground. Gladiator was moving as well. Time seemed to slow down, we kicked off, blasting ahead, the ground splitting behind us from the sheer force.
We collided shoulder to shoulder, a shockwave of air clapping back.
BOOM!
The people around us were knocked off their feet.
Gladiator began throwing punches, I began dogging. I bent out of the way and threw a kick at his head which is easily blocked. He wasn't just strong, he was skilled as well. Trained to be a fighter, probably the best in his galactic empire. But he wasn't trained by the Black Widow.
I caught one punch in a hand lock, rolled into his side and elbowed his side. Something cracked. He moved back, holding what I assume is a broken rib. He kicked off into the air, I follow behind him.
We began moving so fast I doubt even Thor could keep up at this point. Punches, kicks, grapples and throws. Once he managed to catch me by the neck and throw me through several buildings. I rose back out and clocked him across the jaw.
It barely phased him. His hits kept coming, I kept landing every side shot I could. In strength alone he had a slight edge, in skill however I had some moves he had never even seen before.
And then, it began to escalate. He made the first move, blasting me in the chest with an optic blast that sent me soaring across the air and into a nearby ship. The civilian vessel exploded and came down, I heard the cry of people, I turned and could see them, children, I had to help them.
I moved, rushing to the ship, Gladiator must have thought I was going to harm them and rushed to stop me, I don't blame him, he did just see me blow up a star. I grabbed the tail-end of the sinking ship and held it up with one hand. Gladiator came flying at me, I held up my other hand and opened my palm, summoning my lightning.
KRAKOOM!
It hit Gladiator and sent him through a dozen buildings before landing in a crater. I turn to the ship and carefully set them down, summoning a magical circle which sent out a dozen magical beams to extinguish the fires going on.
The people came out and looked up at me, I recognized their awe, I turned around and Gladiator was floating behind me, the middle of his chest burnt off with thunder marks running across his bare chest.
"I thought you were going to kill them," he confessed.
"I came here to stop the murder of my child, why do you think I would do the same regaurdless of their species?" I asked.
He looked around, the city was already showing signs of tear from our battle, "we cannot fight here any longer, too many civilians will get hurt."
I looked up at space, "do you require to breath?"
"No, why?" he asked. I pointed upwards, he quickly got my understanding. He nodded as we both began flying up through the atmosphere. He stopped at the very edge of the horizon and looked to each other.
He didn't have the same look of anger he had before, he almost looked respectful. We took a five second break, before we exploded into each other again.
KABOOM!
His fist his my stomach.
BOOM!
My knee hit his face.
We began fighting again, he hit me with his heat beams again, his fists felt like mountain ready to break me apart with every hit, but I gave as good as I got. I wasn't the same Spider who fell to one of his might blows, no, I changed, and it was time he saw just how much.
His last punch clocked me up the jaw, I spun around and swung my fist, I activated my gauntlet's powers, and something clicked. Lightning surged, nearly blinding light that made it seem like the star came back. I hit him across the jaw and into the dark side of my satellite that was hovering nearby.
He destroyed the a portion of the surface, forming a crater the size of a city where he landed. I pulled back and launched myself to him, both fists held before me. I screamed, though I knew he couldn't hear me.
He stood up and saw me coming towards him, lightning arcing around my body, pure energy I inherited from a god. I threw both hands up and dug his feet into the ground. I came faster and faster until, just when I was about to hit him, his hands grabbed mine and swung me down.
The explosion must have destroyed 10% of the moon's surface as suddenly the broken pieces around us started floating off into space. He drew back his fist and through a punch into my stomach.
Punch after punch came, driving me deeper and deeper into the moon. It was like hammering a nail into a slab of marble. As I began to go deeper and deeper into the moon, more and more pieces of my moon was being broken off and carved away.
When he finally stopped, his fists were bleeding. He was panting, though no air seemed to be coming out, it was instinct. He looked down at me, his eyes wide in disbelief. He mouthed, 'how?'
My suit was perfect, the impact of his hits had no effect on me directly. I looked up at him, now almost fixtures into the ground, and mouthed, 'you shouldn't have stopped.'
My hand exploded out and grabbed his throat. He grabbed my hand and ripped it off, finding pieces of his skin stuck to my fingertips. He was bleeding, but it was a shallow cut, but enough to distract him as my other hand slammed into his chest and I closed my eyes.
It took two seconds for my new powers to kick in, two seconds I had won from Gladiator being too distracted by the five holes in his neck. Two seconds that would cost him this fight.
Energy manipulation. A simple wording, seemingly a common power for an omega mutant to have. But not so underrepresented. What Vulcan could do, it pales in comparison to true manipulation.
The space between my hand and his chest a small ball of energy came forth, all the kinetic energy gathered from the punch he laid onto me. It was fragile, like an egg. I grabbed his hand, pulled him sideways into the ground and pushed him down. I pressed my hand flat against his chest and heard the crack of the egg.
Crack!
KRAKOOM!
The explosion rocked through the entire moon as Gladiator was sent blasting out the other end. He went like a bullet, shooting through space, past the Avenger's fleet and what remained of the Shi'ar armada.
He finally stopped and remained there floating in the middle of dead space, bleeding and broken. His chest shattered and his eyes white.
I flew over and grabbed him. He wasn't a bad man, he was a loyal man to a bad Emperor. I held he carefully as I flew back to Chandelier, flying back to my daughter and the man who threatened her life.
They saw me coming and cleared away. I held Gladiator in my hands, his body bleeding out, his broken form barely held together.
"Is he..." Gabrielle asked as he flew up to meet me.
"He's alive, but unconscious, take him to a hospital, please," I told the third Summer's brother who nodded and took the beaten champion, flying off to get help.
I landed in the middle of the battlefield and turned to Lilandra, "all hail Empress Lilandra, long may she reign," I bowed.
They were silent when one soldier began the chant, "long live the empress!"
"Long live the empress!"
"Long live the empress!"
"Long live the empress!"
Lilandra smiled, her nose turned up in pride as she waved to her people. She stepped forward, with all the poise and form of an Empress of her stature, looked at the startled D'Ken, and claimed, "former emperor D'Ken! As my first order as Empress of the Shi'ar Empire I level upon you the crime of child slaughter and bringing our great empire to the brink of collapse by challenging the Phoenix itself, thereby threatening our lives once more. How do you plead?!"
"Innocent!" D'Ken cried out, pointing a finger at me, "the one who did this was him! He killed our star! And look, his weapon is now gone! Broken in two by his battle with Gladiator! Take my word sister, strike him down, while his weapon he's gone and while he tirs from battle!"
"You fool," Lilandra hissed, "look at them, look at them all. Do you think they are tired?"
And he did, and what he found was the Avengers looked down at him, very pissed off. Carol cracked her fingers, Johnny spun his flames and Thor and Angela gave their best maniacal smile.
D'Ken snapped back to his sister, "don't do this, please, we're family."
"We are, which is why I sentence you to exile," Lilandra replied.
"No," I spoke up.
Lilandra looked at me, "no?"
"No. He sentence my baby girl to death before she even drew her first breath. He dies," I grabbed the back of his head and pulled back.
"Wait-" Lilandra cried, I released one of my stingers and moved to cut his throat open when an arm caught my arm, stopping it.
I snapped back, seeing who would dare, when I saw Jean's smiling face looks back at me. "Peter...that's enough," she whispered, slowly putting my hand down, "you've made your point, they've lost everything. Don't let them paint you a monster, like they did the Phoenix. Please, let's leave, let's take our baby and go. There is nothing worth our time here anymore, nothing but people too broken to ever change."
"J-Jean," I whispered, sliding my stinger back and releasing D'Ken, who ran to his sister, falling at her feet. I turned, Jean smiled, reached up and sealed her lips over mine. I felt that weight in my heart lift, that weight I put on myself the day she gave her freedom for mine, that day Jean Grey gave herself to the Phoenix to save everyone she cared for because I was too weak to step in.
But I wasn't too weak now, I was strong enough to protect her, to protect them all. I pulled away and turned, everyone looked at me, I sighed, "thank you...all of you." They nodded, smirking and grinnin in response.
I then turned to Lilandra, "for the next week we'll secure your borders and keep out anyone who seeks to attack you at this time of weakness. Use that one week's time to migrate from this planet to another in your empire's reach and settle down. Then, from that moment on, understand this, if you ever step out of line, if you ever dip so much as a finger back into the activity of galactic expansion, we will be there. And what happened today will be seen as a mercy. Do you understand Empress of Shi'ar?"
Lilandra nodded, "yes, I do," not a trace of fear in her but her army was bathed in it.
I nodded, turned to my people and sighed, "guys...let's go home."
One week later:
Archano:
"I hereby call this meeting of Spider lovers to accord," Jean smiled, clearing her throat, "as you might have guessed, you are here because clearly you are infatuated with my baby daddy."
"Excuse me, but he was my boyfriend first," Felicia cut in with raised an eyebrow, standing by Jean's bedside.
"Yes well, bite me," Jean smiled, sitting in her bed which Sue had prepared for her once they arrived on the planet. It was in a newly constructed building in the first city built in Arachno had state of the art medical equipment and baby things that Jean would need, all provided by the Brooker as a gift for the newborn.
"Ah, excuse me, but why exactly did you call us?" Tandy Bowen spoke up, looking at the women in the room, "I mean, yeah, we all liked him, but we never did anything."
"Which made some of us nearly insane in the process," Jessica whispered, rolling her eyes.
"I don't think I belong here," Wanda replied, before turning to Susan, "and I would have never thought she belongs here either but...something tells me I'm wrong about that." She looked around at the six women in the room, she really didn't belong here.
"No, you do belong here, you all do," Jean reaffirmed her statement, "everyone of you loves Peter, I know, I can tell."
"Did you read our minds?" Susan asked quickly.
Jean shook her head, "it's nothing as insavise as that. It's like how Jessica is able to smell your emotions, only mine is more...mental."
"I didn't know you could do that," Felicia replied.
"Neither did I but, well, the Phoenix is a powerful thing," Jean whispered. She turned to the metal bracelet she wore, Peter had given to her a few days after they had arrived.
It was made out of Patik, the metal he made, and in the middle of it was the mind stone, which he explained would help her maintain control or at least even the playing field if the Phoenix every tried to take control again. So far it had been silent, remaining dormant after Hope's birth.
Wanda sighed, "okay, but that still doesn't explain why I-"
"Wanda please, I really am not in the mood for this. I just finished feeding Hope and putting her to bed, let's not dance around this, okay? You love him, yes? Good. Let's move on."
Wanda looked like she wanted to protest but just sighed, shaking her head instead. Jean smiled, "good, now, let's address the elephant in the room. We all want a piece of Peter, but the dumbass won't even think about it unless we have a united front in the matter. So I purpose we form a has-"
"-Please don't say it," Felicia sighed.
"A harem!" Jean smiled, summoning an SA and displaying a holographic timetable, "I already assigned days. Any complaints?"
"Yes, why do I get Tuesday, you know no one fucks on a Tuesday! Everyone is too busy working!" Jessica cried out.
"I don't think Peter sees me like that," Tandy spoke up meekly, "I mean, I don't think he would ever."
"Why would you think that?" Felciia asked, surprised.
"Well...why would he when he has you?"
Felicia blushed at the compliment, "look, this isn't about...well I mean...damn it Jean will you help me out here?!"
Jean sighed, "Tandy...it's like this. Peter needs us, all of us. Whether he knows it or not. He needs us to be on his side, always and never give up on him. You could do that as friends, I know, but that's not what you want, you want more, don't you?"
"Well...what about what he wants?" Tandy asked.
Felicia smiled, "if he doesn't wants us, then that's fine. But I'm pretty sure other than Wanda and you he's fucked everyone in this room."
"Yup," Jessica nodded.
"Yes," Sue sighed.
"And I have proof," Jean grinned.
Tandy blushed, "yes well...what if he says no?"
"That's for him to decide," Jean shrugged, "now, any more complaints on the scheduling?"
"Yeah, I have one!" Jessica cried out.
In the Flag Ship of the Avengers fleet flying over Archno:
Carol looked at me, "the one week grace period you gave them passed as requested we are pulling our people from their borders now."
I nodded, "great, how much did they manage to move?"
"All civilians were accounted for, even the poor. Most wildlife present on that planet is gone as well. They are making arrangements to get the rest, but for now the majority of their fleet has gone back to guarding their borders."
I nodded, "good...you want to say something?"
Carol looked at me, her eyes narrowed, "was there no other way?"
"To save Hope? Yes, there was. But I needed them to understand Carol."
"Understand what?"
"That coming after my family isn't even an option a mad man should pick," I replied firmly, "the remains of my satellite has been collected and disposed off into a balckhole. No one will be able to replicate what I did."
"And the Infinity stone?"
I reached into my back of storage and pulled it out, encased in a patik box, "in safe hands."
"Now it is," Carol reached out and took the stone, "I'm sorry Peter, but I can't in good conscious allow you to keep that stone in your hands. I can't...I can't wonder about you going insane too."
I nodded, "I get it...keep it safe Carol, as far as the galaxy knows I have the power stone. If they ever find out the truth."
"I can handle myself," Carol replied, turning away and walking away, "give Hope a kiss for me, would you?"
"Will do," I node, leaving through the ship's airlock and flying down to Archno. I made my way to the small home I had built in the first city being built on the planet's surface and landed on the balcony to my room.
As soon as I walked inside however I heard a baby cry out. I was over to her crib in a flash, removing my mask immediately, looking at Hope who was kicking and screaming up a storm.
"Oh baby, did you have a nightmare?" I reached in and gently pulled out the week old baby into my arms, swaddling her with the gentlest of care. She was bawling, crying her lungs out, but to me, every octave was like melody from the best musician in the galaxy.
Maybe that's why parents don't mind their baby's crying, because to them it isn't noise, it's proof that their child is alive. Or maybe that's just me, I'm just so happy she's here, safe.
"Do you need a change?" I ask, feeling her diaper empty and dry, "no, then how about some milk?" I summon a bottle in my hand and held it up, but she refused the nipple, "alright, alright, fussy little monster aren't Hope? Well then, how about...how about a song?"
For a moment she stopped, her bright green eyes looking up in curiosity. I swear, it maybe personally biased, but this kid is going to be a genius!
I walked over to a comfortable looking chairs and sat down on it, holding her up. She began crying again, but when I opened my mouth to sing, she slowly quieted down.
"Spider-man, spider-man, does whatever a spider can. Spins a web, any size, catches thieves just like that, look out, here comes the spider-man," I sing in the tune of a tv show opening I saw when I was a child. It was spider-man, of course.
"Ha," Hope giggled. I smiled and continued to sing, my little girl giggling and cheering as I changed my tone, laughing in joy everytime I said my moniker. I smiled, watching as she slowly went to sleep as she listened to the same three lines I knew over on repeat a dozen times by now.
I smiled, content. Hope Leia Parker. I had some input on the middle name.
Jean:
"Alright then, fuck the chart!" Jean cried, throwing the SA at a wall, "if you people are not going to be civilized about this then let's just see who he spends time with and go on from their!"
"Hey! No fair, you literally had his baby! Of course he'll be spending more time with you!" Wanda cried out.
"Woman, do I look ready to be sleeping around again?"
"Well...pregnancy does have it's perks" Felicia purred, eyeing Jean's increased bust size.
"Kitten, stay," Jean warned.
"You know what, why don't we just ask him and let him decide?" Susan spoke up, "if we are going to be in this...polygamus relationship then we need to involve him too."
They all turned, nodding in agreement. "So where is he now?" Jessica asked.
"Last I heard he went to speak with Carol," Tandy replied.
"You don't think she and he are..." Felicia asked.
"No, he isn't her type," Jesscia replied, waving off the question, "hey Sexy! Where's Peter right now?"
The AI replied promptly, "Peter is the bedroom currently, though I suggest you all move there quietly as he is busy."
"Busy with what?" Jean asked.
"A girl," The AI replied.
They all practically teleported to his room, Jean being taken in a wheelchair by Felicia. They opened the door to burst through when they all stopped dead in their tracks at the sight before them.
Peter was curled up in what was increasingly became referred to as his 'daddy' seat. He sat there with baby Hope tucked into his arms, both father and daughter sound asleep.
"Oh, and the girl I mentioned is Hope. Sorry, I forgot to mention that," the sarcastic AIR whispered.
"Leave it to Peter to program an AI who like pranking people," Susan said, rolling her eyes. The women, as one, moved away, closing the door as they did. They shut the door softly and turned to each other.
They smiled and went back to Jean's room, for the time being at least Peter would have all his time occupied with only one girl in his life.
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