章 74: A week feels like forever
"So, what's the plan bub?" Logan grunted as they all gathered around the conference table in The Liberty.
"The plan is this," I waved my hand, allowing a hologram of the galaxy and it's close neighbors to come alive in the middle of the table, "right now, the climate in space is war. The Kree and Xandar are just settling down conflicts, but there are still many Kree who think the war should continue."
"Ah, excuse me," Johnny raised his hand, "can someone explain what you just said?"
"Oj, right, sorry," I rubbed my neck, "basically it's like this. In the greater reaches of space, there are empires ruling the majority of the planets and systems. There are a lot of them, but the ones to keep note are these. Sexy, display the prime players."
The holograms changed, now displaying three prime examples of the ideal members of major Empires. One was a blue skinned humanoid, the second was nearly identical to a white-human and the third resemble humans again but with feathered crests atop their heads instead of hair.
"These are aliens?" Johnny snorted, "they look like cosplayers man."
"I know, but trust me, they're aliens, three different species, three different empires, hundreds of thousands of lightyears apart," I replied, turning to Sue, "did you notice?"
Sue nodded, looking astonished, "yes...I did."
"What do you mean?" Tandy spoke up, "notice what?"
"Do you know the probability of a humans evolving into the bone structure that we currently have?" Sue asked rhetorically, "nearly three billion to one. And yet, apparently, three different races from three parts of the galaxy-"
"The Xandarians are form Andromeda," I replied quickly, pointing at the one that looked most human.
"Then that's even more astonishing," Sue replied, "to look so human...it was almost as if they were...we were built to look like that."
"I had the same question," I replied, bringing up the helix chain of Thor, "this is Thor's DNA, notice how similar it is?"
"Astonishing," Sue whispered, "do you have any data on this?"
"In the lab. I found a few common markers actually, if you look here-"
"-Oye! Nerds! Can we get back to explaining about the the intergalactic war?!" Jessica cried out.
"Oh, yeah, sorry," I chuckled nervously, "just fascinating you know? The idea we all were designed...anyway, we can discuss genetics later Sue," the woman shrugged, through her eyes showed just how eager she was.
"Now then, what you have to understand is this," I highlighted each race with a colour, Kree as blue, Shi'ar as yellow and the Nova Empire as red. The Nova Empire covered most of the Milky Way galaxy and the Andromeda galaxy, while the others took to other corners, each empire sharing borders with the other.
"For about a thousand years the Krees and the Nova empire have been fighting, badly," I sighed, rubbing my eyes, "however, things are settling down and they even managed to get a peace accord going. But, like always, someone isn't happy, then again they always are."
"So why are you telling us all of this?" Logan grunted.
"Because we are heading to Xander," I displayed the planet on screen, "the home of the Nova Empire and while we are there we're going to collect as much information as we can about any possible sightings of the Phoenix."
"Why the Nova Empire?" Felicia asked.
I shrugged, "simplest answer? They look a lot like us so we can blend it. But, not only that, they are also more open about their borders than the Kree are."
"How did you learn all of this?" Tandy asked aloud, "I mean, did the dwarves help you?"
I nodded, "yes. Nidavelir is...something of a myth in the greater galaxy. To them, the legends of the dwarves are just that, legend. The dwarves take no side in any war and buildings supplies to whoever pays them. We did get many traders coming to and from the station, so I was able to learn a lot from them, plus, I bribed a few of the dwarves to learn more stuff, like how to use the warp technology on this ship and the multi-language communicator."
"I'm sorry, what?" Sue snapped her attention back to me, "multi-language communicators?"
I grinned, "oh you are going to love this," I reached into my storage backpack and pulled out a blue box. I put it on the table and opened it up, revealing several nearly transparent blue dots an inch wide, the markings of Earthian circuit systems present on its surface.
"These will allow us to understand the language of every sentient speaker in the galaxy," I turned my head and tapped the underside of my left ear, "I already have one installed. It's simple enough to use and harmless. I also made some modifications to them, double tapping them will activate the team wide communicator function, three taps and stating a person's name will open a private channel."
"Fascinating," Sue whispered as she picked up a communicator, "how does it work? Does it convert the brain waves of the speaker into a language the lister would understand?"
"Close. It actually converts the language spoken into something the listener will understand through a direct translation," I smirked, "inside these blue dots is the basic script of every language recorded in the unknown galaxy."
"That has to be terabytes of data!" Sue gasped.
"Sue, trust me when I say you haven't seen anything yet," I grinned, "now come on, put them on and I show you the rest of the ship, give you a proper tour."
They looked at each other and sighed, the smell of annoyance going around the room. Maybe I should hold off on the better part of the explanations for someone like Sue or Wanda to understand and appreciate.
They put on the ear pieces, flinching as they did. "Don't worry, your nervous system should be adjusting any moment now," I assured them as slowly they system came online.
"Alright, as you all can guess, this is the congress room," I motioned to the circular room. It was large enough to fit everyone on the ship inside comfortably while also managing to keep a large circular table in the middle.
"That right there is the entrance to the engine room," I pointed to the far end of the room where a door was present.
"Why did you keep the engine room next to where we would all meet?" Logan asked, his army history backing his question about strategy.
"Because this room is the most guarded room in the whole ship, Sexy?"
The walls suddenly shifted as out of them came several canons that had a full 180 degree range along with a laser pointer. The circular table was split in half as it folded down and became a barricade behind which people could hide.
"The guns fire nuon energy beams, they are strong enough to blast metal part or stun them, depending on the situation. They are controled by Sexy, but in case the AI gets compromised you can also activate the manual override by pressing this button," I pointed to a small red button hidden behind the now barricade table.
"What happens when you press it?" Johnny asked.
I grinned, pressing the button causing the back of the barricade to transform into a screen that displayed the whole room from a bird's eye view. I tapped one portions of the displayed screen and suddenly all the guns began to point at said location.
"So you created a video game," Scott smiled.
I shrugged, "kind off."
"You know, if we ever get in trouble we wouldn't need guns," Rogue replied, "each of us are basically walking weapons."
"I know, but it's also for the ship's safety," I shrugged, "a little extra precaution. Now, the engine room," I snapped my fingers and the room turned back into normal. We walked out the engine room door and I pressed my hand on its surface.
It took awhile for the scan to work before the door opened up, revealing the room. There was a giant blue power core shaped like an energy turbine like one would find back on Earth. There were pipes running from the engine to the far side of the room, which was narrowing to a tapering close until they vanished through the wall.
"It's barely making any sound," Johnny whispered, "what's the fuel source? How does it keep its output stable? And why does the room look like it's smaller the further back it goes."
At certain times in life, I forget just who Johnny Storm was. A mechanical genius. "We can talk about the details later if you want Johnny. The room however is smaller in the back, the pipes lead to the exhaust that's present in the back of the ship."
I could tell other than the Storm siblings, the rest were getting bored. So I decided to hurry things along. We went back into the conference room and through the door directly opposite to the Engine room.
We stepped out now into a short corridor that lead into the navigation room and entrance up front. "This is the navigation room, as you all know," I pointed to the hexagon shaped room with various maps, charts and holograms on display, "if we ever get into a situation where we get into a dog fight this is where we'll need to be. There's only so much Sexy can do."
"Do you have any guns on this bucket?" Logan asked with a grunt.
"Yes...but they aren't done," I sighed.
Logan clicked his teeth, "kid, that's just about the dumbest thing I heard you say. If we;re seriously going to place that's just seen a thousand years of way we need to protect ourselves."
"True but with the modifications I've made to the ship, the engine and the ship's outward size, we might as well be the fastest ship in the galaxy. I would wager they wouldn't be able to touch us. Plus...we don't have much outside surface area to work with, so whatever we make has to be a weapon we need to only fire once."
"Maybe I can help with that," Johnny called out, "I've been meaning to make something that uses muon particles. It's based around the system you used. It's been an idea that's been bugging me for a while now..."
"Johnny, we don't make weapons," Sue hissed.
Johnny snorted, "sis, no offence, but that's exactly what we do. Or do you think any of Baxter foundation's inventions will only ever be used for Humanitarian needs?"
Sue looked like she wanted to argue but dropped it. Logan just then began sniffing, "what's that smell," he turned to the door to our right, his eyes narrowed.
"That's the kitchen come lounge," I explained.
"Why didn't you say so?" the man grinned as he walked inside, pushing the door open.
The kitchen was simple enough design with the kitchen counter placed to the far side of the room, a stove, fridge, sink, oven and dishwasher all finally made with an counter island placed just before it.
There was a dining table in the middle of the room with a couch on to side along with several seats around it. To one corner of the room was a hammock with a large screen that covered most of the wall over it.
"That a real window?" Felicia asked, looking amazed at the view of space. Stars flashing by, millions of millions of empty space passing us by at faster than light speeds.
"No, it's a picture captured by a camera outside the ship and rendered here," I explained, "I figured a place like this needs a view."
"No kidding," Logan grunted as he came up to the hammock and tested it out, grunting as he did.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"Haven't been on one of these things for a while..."
"Why not?" Tandy asked, clearly confused. In response Logan growled at her, making the girl squeak and look away.
"It's fine Logan, the hammock is made out of a finely made metal alloy I picked up from the draves, it can hold the weight of your bones," I reassured the man.
Logan looked back at the thing before slowly climbing on. He waited for it to snap and break, and when it didn't he smiled, "alright everyone listen up. From this moment on, this is mine. If I ever find you sitting on it I'll gut you like a fish."
"H-He's not serious right?" Tandy asked Rogue. In response Logan growled and released his claws, much to the girl's freight.
"Alright, let's continue with the tour then," I prompted, but why Logan didn't move and asked, "you not coming?"
"No," he grunted.
"But...what about the rest of the ship?"
"Don't care."
I sighed, rubbing my temples, "why did I know this would happen...fine," I walked over to the kitchen and opened the fridge, reaching in and pulled out a beer jug that was filled with brown ale. I passed it to the man, "here."
"What is it?" Logan asked sniffing the drink.
"Dwarven ale. Bought some off a maker in exchange for helping her fix her breweries leaking pipes."
The man was curious for a second before he sipped the drink. His eyes shot open in shock as he began chugging the drink, spilling not a single drop as he downed it in one go.
"That, was amazing," Logan smirked as he wiped the foam on his beard, "you got more kid?" I grinded and pointed at the jug. The man's eyes widened as it began to fill up on it's own. Logan turned to me, "I think I'm in love with you kid."
"Oh great, more competition," Jessica whispered, though I knew for a fact both Logan and I heard it as the man chuckled and I rolled my eyes.
After leaving the kitchen, a very happy Logan left behind, we got into the elevator across the kitchen door and went down to the lower level of the ship.
The doors opened up to a long corridor with plain black doors on either side. "This is the general quarters," I replied, pointing at each door, "pick a room."
Scott looked at the space between each door and frowned, "they aren't very big are they?"
"Dude, you are in a ship within a ship. Do you think I would make the rooms small?" I rolled my eyes, opening a room door to prove my point.
The room was bigger than most would expect. It had a king size bed, a table and a chair along with a mirror and another monitor window like the one in the kitchen.
"This is bigger than the rooms at the Xavier mansion," Rogue whistled as they went inside.
"Yeah, I had that in mind. Sadly though it doesn't really have much in it," I shrugged, "you're free to customize it however you want though, so just pick a room and once we stop at Xandar and get some credits you can go nuts."
"Credits?" Felicia asked, the gleam of discovering a new type of currency appealing to my kleptomaniac of a girlfriend.
"A standard form of currency the great galaxy uses," I smiled, "individual planets do have a standard local system as well, but they can be translated into credits."
"How much would a dollar be?" Jessica asked curiously.
"Nothing," I shrugged, "since Earth isn't a very well known or even part of the galactic trade community we don't have a value for our money."
"How do you plan on getting these credits then?" Wanda asked.
"Dwarven goods," I shrugged, "I'll be selling a few things I made. Since it has the seal of Nidavellir on it it should fetch a pretty penny."
"Are the dwarves really that legendary?" Wanda asked in surprise.
"You have no idea," I shuddered, "remember that trader I told you about? The man is said to be one of the richest in the known galaxy, when he met the dwarves he was practically on his knees the entire time. He called every sir, even me, and I wasn't even a dwarf! So, while we can use the name on the products made, we should be careful who we deal with. Because people will try to target us if they think we can help them get to the dwarves."
They all understood my warnings and agreed to keep quiet.
Everyone picked a room, Scott and Rogue decided to bunk together, obviously. Kitten also decided to just stay in the room I was in, she dropped many not so subtle hints on what she had in mind.
Wanda and Tandy took the rooms furthest from mine. Even after I assured them each room was sound proof they refused to listen. Even also spared Logan a room, knowing the man was probably not going to come here for a long time.
"So how many rooms did you make?" Johnny asked as he looked down the long corridor, "there must be a dozen rooms here."
I shrugged, "I made around...fifty?"
"Fifty?!" Sue cried out, "why so many?"
"I don't know. Prepare for the worst hope for the best. I also got enough food in here to feed a hundred people, including those with an advanced metabolism like Logan and I. If we ever get stranded we'll be fine."
"How did you get all of this?" Sue asked.
"Dwarves. They are huge and so they eat a lot. For them, the amount of food we eat per month is something they consume in a week."
"Wait, why are they huge?" Jessica called out, "are they all fat?"
"No, they're like fifteen feet tall," Felicia told her, "super big."
"...They why are they called dwarves?" I chuckled at the question.
The next floor contained two splitting corridors. To the left was my lab. Needless to say Susan was livid. She claimed one half of it for herself, I didn't really object, not that I had the time to say anything as she had already began setting up an account for herself.
On the other side of the corridor was the library. It was small and contained only a few physical books. Wanda was livid of course, until I showed her how most of the books had been scanned and made into a digital copy. I handed her an SA and told her to go nuts.
The last floor however made them all amazed as the elevator doors opened up into a control's room with a terminal and several monitors attached. The room had windows that allowed one too look to the outside, which was nothing more than a large empty room a thousand feet long and a thousand feet wide.
"And this, is something I'm sure you all will like," I grinned, "I modeled it after the Danger room in the Xavier mansion," I walked to the terminal and typed in a few scenarios. Immediately several drones came out of the walls of the room with laser and other weapons attached to them.
The ground began to open up as various obstacles came out which had barbed wire and other dangerous attachments to them.
"The walls of the room is covered with a protective magic and vibranium, meaning any energy that hits the walls won't break the ship, but will be absorbed and discharged outside," I pointed to the walls that glowed with a noteworthy vibranium blue, "so you can go nuts in there."
"Woah," Jessica whistled as she came over, looking at all the settings that was available, "war-zone, night-time operation, jungle scenario, gym….Peter, what is 'Gravity Limits'?"
"The entire room has been plated to artificially increase the gravity inside," I explained with a smile, "I set a limit to just ten G's at the moment but it can go up to a thousand times Earth's gravity inside. Anymore and...well let's just say things get weird, especially with all the spacial folding already in place."
"Dude..." Johnny turned to me, "you stole this from Dragon Ball Z didn't you?"
"...maybe...still cool," I huffed.
"You realise how crazy it sounds doing something like this right?" Jessica called out, "normal humans would get seriously hurt at anything more than seven or nine G's."
"But the theory does make sense," Sue replied with a mutter, "more vertical gravity means more pressed put on your muscles meaning better results."
"And like I said, I set a limit to the thing, so don't worry," I shrugged, "anyway, that's it. The whole ship. Any questions."
"Yeah," Johnny raised a hand.
"You sir, with the blonde hair and shit eating grin," I chuckled.
"How long until we reach Xandar?"
"A week, give or take," I shrugged.
"A week?!" Tandy cried out, "but can't this thing go like Hyper speed or something?"
"First of all, it's called warping, hyperspeed is Star Wars," I corrected her, "and second, it is going fast, we are effectively leaving the entire galaxy and going into another whole star system. A week is cutting that short, by a lot."
"How do you keep track of time?" Sue asked.
"Internal clock," I pointed to a corner of the room where a digital clock recided, "it keeps with Earth time."
"And when relativity kicks in?"
"Let's just say aline tech is useful at being accurate," I sighed.
"Alright then," Jessica said as she took off her jacket revealing her sleeveless tank top underneath. She opened the door to the training room and began to stretch, "Peter, give me an obstacle course."
"Sure, I'll set you up at level 1 to start," I told her as I inputted the orders into the system.
"No, forget that, set the highest setting you got," Jessica called back as she did a full split, making everyone eye her perfectly toned ass on display.
I rolled my eyes, "we if you insist."
The program began and a red line highlighted the path to clear. Jessica ran into a dash and jumped just as a metal beam came out of the ground. She jumped over it and grinned, before several bean bags were launched at her from the walls.
She weaved through them, clearing nearly all, only for three to hit her in the chest. She landed on her feet and held her chest in pain, but she couldn't rest as immediately several more drones came for her, firing at her, forcing her to move back.
It took Jessica ten minutes to trying and getting shot at to call it quits. She was sweating, her body drenched. I noted the way she smelt, the scent was intoxicating but by now I had more control over my urges, I was able to push the lust aside and notice everything else about the woman instead.
"You got slower," I noted as she came back inside. I threw her a towel, "civilian life didn't do you any favours huh?"
"Bite me," she hissed as she cleaned herself up, "I lasted a while at the highest setting, that's good enough."
"That was level three actually," I replied.
Jessica's eyes winded, "how many levels are there?"
"50..."
"Oh...damn it...I need a shower," Jessica grumbled.
"So," I turned out the others, "who wants to go next?"
That night:
I spent the rest of the day helping everyone settle in. Logan was by far the easiest. The man had only three settings, drink, sleep and train. When he found out we had a training room like the one at the Xavier mansion he was livid.
He had Jessica grew a rivalry in completing the obstacle courses, each trying to be the first to get all fifty completed.
Sue took over my lab, we covered most of what I had found, but we sadly couldn't finish the conversation at all as it was too much for a single sitting. She let me go, but not before promising her to explain the rest to her in due time. She took a particular interest in my research into Thor's blood, looking int's the matching gene sequences I had found.
Johnny was of course fascinated by the engine and decided to set his own little workstation in there. He used the navigation room as his thinking are while he worked on his designs for the ship's weapons. Needless to say he didn't want to share my lab because of just how deeply Sue disagreed with his ideas.
Wanda and Tandy were in the kitchen or library both having become close during the six months I was away. Tandy looked up to Wanda, considered her a badass, and Wanda looked at Tandy like a cute lost puppy. It was...yeah..
Rogue and Scott of course were more private and quite The two deciding to spend the day in their room. I'm sure anyone could guess what they were doing. I did tease them about it, asking if they wanted me to set up a nursery somewhere in the ship. I had never seen Scott turn that red that fast.
I was exhausted by the time I went back to my room, mentally more than physically. I dropped into my room and sighed, rubbing my shoulders, already having the next day planned out in my head.
But just as I was getting ready for bed the door to my room slowly opened up and I saw Felicia walk in, closing it behind her. She leaned on the door and smiled, her eyes filled with lust as she bite her lower teeth, wearing nothing more than a small silky black bathrobe that stopped just before her mid thighs.
"You know...ever since we made up, it's never been just the two of us," she purred, pulling her robes away to the side, pulling away the bed covers and sliding in.
"Hm, I guess you're right," my suit shimmered into the reactor core as I plucked it and put it away, "I missed you Kitten." I reached up and cupped her face with one hand, wrapping the other around her hips to pull her down against me.
"I missed you too Tiger," she purred as she leaned in and kissed me. It felt like a good memory I had forgotten about a long time ago and only now recall. A rush of warmth came into my heart, soul...whatever.
We made love into the night, deeply binding the emotions we felt towards each other, the bond we had become silent for six months, but now seemed to be back to the same intensity it once was.
Every time we came, it felt like the night had just started again. Every time she cried out my name and I whispered her's, it was like we were meeting each other again. Her arms never stopped holding me, they always held me close, just as I held her. We were both afraid of letting the other go again.
I didn't realise until...I don't know how long, but Felicia's stamina had increased. Before after a few times the girl would be exhausted, tired but unwilling to admit it. I would lie, tell her I was done. But not this time. This time she didn't falter, she didn't slow down and I loved her for it.
And when we were finally done, when the two of us were exhausted to a point we could do nothing but breath heavy and hold each other close, drenched in sweat, did I finally notice the grin on her face.
"I-I think that's the first time I got you to break a sweat," she said, looking proud at the declaration.
"H-How?" I couldn't help but ask.
She pointed to the pendant hanging around her neck. I assumed it had been a relic that had chosen her, and I was right.
"Which one is it?" I asked as I held the pendant, noting its features.
"The totem of Bast," Felicia replied with a grin.
My eyes went wide, "b-but that's lost! How did you find it?"
"Well I am the world's greatest thief for a reason you know," she winked, eyes my new jacket hanging off the bed post, "I was actually aiming for this when I found the jacket. So it was kind of a win-win situation."
"Felicia...this kind of power will come at a price...what did you have to give?" I asked with worry.
"Relax Tiger," she whispered as she crawled on top of me, stretching herself out with a relaxed sigh, pushing her heavy tits out, "it's not a hard agreement to keep. In exchange all I had to do was become an avatar for Bast."
"I'm sorry, but what?" I immediately sued my web vision and saw a silver aura around Felicia, taking on the feature of a cat, tail and all, "you mean the panther goddess of Egypt?"
Felicia nodded, "yup. She and I have a deal. Her powers and she gets to experience the world through my eyes."
"Wait….so….right now...she's..."
Felicia's eyes widened in horror, "oh fuck no."
The pendant's eyes then came alive as a booming feminine voice I never heard before spoke through the cat's head, "that was fucking amazing! I haven't been ridden like that in years! Felicia, keep doing this and I promise to increase the amount of energy you gain by fifty percent!"
And just as it came, it went, the pendant returning to normal. I looked at it resting between the valley of my girlfriends tits before looking at her, "that...was Bast?"
Felicia gulped, "y-yeah..."
"She...ah...wasn't what I had in mind."
"Yeah...between us, she's kind of a horny cat," Felicia whispered.
"Oye! You try being alone for a thousand years and see how you turn out!" Bast cried out again before the pendant died again.
"Huh...Wakanda is going to be pissed," I whispered.
"Wakanda?" Felicia asked.
"A hidden city filled with technology a thousand times more advanced than the rest of the world. They use vibranium for everything and their king worships Bast...I don't know how to feel about this..."
"Look Peter...I-I know it's weird," Felicia whispered, holding her the pendant in her hands, "but this is the only way I know how to keep up with you. I mean for fuck's sake Peter I have the stamina of a goddess helping me and your still keeping up. I need to get stronger and...this is how I to do it."
I sighed, and pulled myself up, pulling Felicia close and letting her rest on my lap as she wrapped her legs around my torso, "fine...it's fine, I understand. But you don't have to do something you don't want to understand? I mean...I wouldn't ask you to come if I didn't think you couldn't handle it I...I asked you because I needed you with me...because you give me strength Felicia."
"And I don't want to be an anchor for you Peter," Felicia replied back, the fire in her eyes sent goosebumps down my arms, "I won't. We'll get Jean back, together."
I smiled, "deal...but seriously, if you and Bast are connected, does that mean I just have sex with a goddess? Because if that's the case I so need to update my portfolio."
"Oh, so sex with a goddess if noteworthy, but we mortal woman are just work experience huh?"
"Of course not," I whispered, leaning closer, "Bast would be listed under 'notable achievements'. You would be listed under 'life long goals'."
"...Get back on the fucking bed," she growled as she shoved me back with strength I didn't realise she had. A silver aura came over her body as she took on the image I saw in my Web vision. She looked down and grinned, slowly mounting me, "now then Spider, let's play."
Five days later:
"Alright, try it," I stepped away, putting my tools away and looking down at Scott with a smile.
The guy was sitting on a stool in the middle of my lab. He had his UMF suit transformed into a black shirt and jeans. And for the first time in a long time, Scott Summers was not wearing his trademark shades.
"Are you absolutely sure about this?" Scott asked, still nervous as ever, "because if not I could blow a hole into a wall."
"For the last time, I'm sure Scott," I sighed, rolling my eyes, "and if you must know the walls of my lab are also lined with energy absorption like the training room. So open your eyes."
He looked unsure, his eyebrows tightly squinting. But slowly, ever so slowly, his eyes began to flicker as they opened up. The trademark red and maroon shade of his optic blasts came through, but no energy beam.
Scott blinked once, twice. And then his jaw was hanging open in shock. The irises of his eyes took on a shade similar to his optic beams, they glowed with a burning light, it almost looked demonic. But other than that, he was normal.
"I-I can see!" Scott cried out, jumping to his feet and looking around, "colors, I-I can see colours again!" he said with growing excitement. He turned to me and blinked, "you have brown hair?"
"Yeah...why? What colour hair did you think I had?"
"I don't know, I always imagined it was black," the mutant shrugged.
I groaned, pulling a strand, "yeah..that would look cool."
"How can I see? Why isn't everything red like normal?" Scott asked.
"The lenses I gave you are specially designed. They absorb your energy and direct back into your optical nevers. From what I can tell that's where the beams originate from in the first place. And since the beams don't technically intimate with your perception of the world, you can see everything in colour again."
"This is amazing Peter I...I don't know how to thank you," the young man whispered.
"You were willing to help get Jean back, this is nothing," I waved his thanks away.
"Yeah but...oh my god I have to tell Anna!"
"Who's Anna?" I asked, not recalling the name.
"Rogue, that's her real name," Scott replied before freezing for a second, "ah...don't tell her I told you that, okay?"
I smirked, "deal. Come on, we can tell her together," I patted him on the shoulder as we moved out of the lab. "Sue! I'll be back in a second!" I called out to my lab partner who didn't bother looking up from her electron microscope, simply giving me a thumbs up in return.
We walked down the corridor to the entrance of the library on the other side of the lab. Scott looked giddy as he did. He waited for a second before walking in, a smile on his face.
Rogue was curled in one corner of the room with a book. Wanda and Tandy were there two reading a magical time they had smuggled in from Kamar-Taj. When we walked in everyone turned to us, and Rogue's eyes went wide.
"Scott?!" she cried out.
"Hey..." he whispered. Rogue jumped out of her chair and practically launched herself at him, hugging him, holding him tightly within her arms.
"Y-your eyes?" she asked, looking into his red pools.
"Peter," he replied, "y-you have brown hair too?"
"Yeah," Rogue replied as she suddenly became shy, "you like it?"
"Of course I do...I think it's amazing," he replied, grinning like a loon.
"Gave Shades an upgrade huh?" Wanda asked as she and Tandy came up to me, watching how Rogue and Scott seemed to be caught in their own little world.
"Yup," I replied with a smile. I was about to tell her how when suddenly a slight buzzing caem from me communicators. I tapped it to activate and Johnny's voice came through.
"Ah, Pete, I think you need to get up here," came his urgent voice, "it's...it's weird."
"On it," I turned to the girls, "we got a situation, coming?"
Wanda nodded, Tandy however looked at Scott and Rogue, "ah...what about them?"
I shrugged, "I'm sure we can handle it without them. Come on," we went to the elevator just as Sue was coming from the lab, "he called you too?"
"Yes, something urgent I guess if he called up north," Sue replied simply. We got into the elevator and moved to the upper deck, walking quickly to the navigations where Johnny was waiting for us.
"What's this about Johnny?" I asked as I looked at the holograms around us.
"We're getting a distress signal I think?" Johnny said, pulling up a hologram and playing it. It was a standard message on an open channel, "I checked the navigations, it's close by."
"Where exactly is it?"
Johnny pulled up a hologram of the space between the Milky Way and Andromeda and pointed to the outer edge of the latter, "just about here."
"We shouldn't risk it," Wanda said, her eyes narrowed, "it could be a trap. Pirates probably. They have those in space right?"
"Yes...but this isn't a very common hyperlane route. They wouldn't be able to do much damage and if I'm being honest, they would underestimate us based on the ship's size," I replied, eyeing the blinking red dot on the map.
"It's your call Pete, you are the captain after all," Johnny replied with a grin.
"...We help," I decided.
"We are making a very stupid mistake," Wanda hissed back.
"I agree," Susan spoke up, "coming in contact with a foreign presence is a danger for everyone. There's no tell what kind of germs or diseases they have with them. Things the human race have never developed an immunity too. We're inviting disease if we bring them aboard Peter."
"I have a way to prevent us from getting sick, but we'll need someone who is vaccinated in order for it to work," I replied, "I was going to wait until we got to Xandar to obtain a blood sample for us, but if we can get it sooner, shouldn't we?"
"Why do you always have to play the hero?" Wanda growled in annoyance.
I smirked, "Sexy, set course for that wreckage. Wanda, Sue, Tandy, you two are coming with me for the boarding party."
"What about me?" Johnny asked.
"You abilities requires you burning precious oxygen Johnny."
"Then if you're expecting a fight should we take the walking beer factory?" Johnny asked pointing to the kitchen where Logan was probably asleep on his hammock.
"Logan's power relies too much on having a level playing field. There might not be any gravity on the ship, so Jessica, Felicia, Logan and Rouge will be useless. Scott would be good, but he is still getting used to his upgrades."
"Fine...but anything goes wrong, and I mean anything, I'm bursting in there flames burning, alright?" Johnny huffed.
"Deal," I gave him a fist bump, the boy grinning back.
"This is going to be such a pain," Wanda sighed.
"Maybe. Alright everyone, suit up!"
Ten minutes later:
We were standing at the airlock at the entrance of the ship. The Liberty slowly pulled out of warp speed and space returned once more to the black void that it was. We looked out in amazement and wonder. It never got old.
"There," Wanda pointed out to a wreckage of a ship that was floating in space, parts broken and flying away, half of the hull missing.
"This thing wasn't just attacked, it was destroyed," Tandy whispered, "whoever did this was out for vengeance."
"Or was a bully," Wanda narrowed her eyes.
"Sexy, do you detect any life signs?" Susan asked as she typed away at the ship's terminal.
"Yes, I am detecting one life sign on board. But from what I can tell it isn't fully...organic as its core temperature is just below what a normal human maintains."
"But be alien biology," I guessed, "alright, bring it around and settle an air lock to the ship's side. Prepare to board everyone."
They nodded as we all got into positions. Our UMF suits changed, since coming on board everyone took to wearing them as it was a much better alternative to wearing multiple clothing and spending valuable resource to clean them.
I wore my black and white, Wanda wore her cloak, Tandy made hers look like the white robes she wore at Kamar-Taj and Susan had her' look like her FF uniform.
However the UMF suits were more than meets the eye as they were also airtighted and vacuum sealed. It was a little snug, but that was the point. With these we could stand the vacuum of space with ease.
As we approached the door the panel next to it opened up revealed several black face masks resembling an oxygen mask. We each took one and placed them over our mouth and nose. The stuck to out faces and created an energy field around out faces, serving as a protective cover.
"How long will the oxygen last?" Sue asked as she tapped away at her suit's functions.
"Twenty four hours," I replied, "the masks contains an expanded storage, we'll be fine."
"Setting up the airlock now," Johnny called out as the Liberty landed on the broken ship and a vacuum lock was made between us.
The door opened slowly and we stepped through with me taking the lead. The moment we passed through our ship and into the crashed one, gravity lost all meaning as we began to float.
"Guess the artificial gravity is gone," I sighed as we all floated into the long corridor before us. I turned around and tapped my communicator, "can everyone hear me?"
"Loud and clear," Johnny replied.
"Yes," Wanda nodded, Tandy giving a thumbs up, while Sue just nodded.
"Right, Johnny close the door, open it when we tell you," I ordered. He looked unsure, but nodded as he did just that.
"Amazing," Sue whispered as she looked around, pulling a torchlight from the utility belt around her hip, "you would think seeing an alien ship would feel more...alien. But I'm sure I've seen this somewhere."
"Yeah, the sewers of New York," Randy replied with a snort and I found myself agreeing with the girl. This long corridor we were in did indeed look like a New York sewer line, the walls lined with pipes, dark, winding and by the looks of it, old.
"Keep close, I don't think it would be a good idea to get in here," I whispered.
"Got it," Wanda replied as she summoned Sue and Tandy to her sighed, surrounding them with a red aura of energy before moving telepathically along the ship's halls.
I followed next to them, flying easily due to the lack of air resistance. I activated my SA and pulled up the life sensor the ship was picking up, noting it was just up ahead, "it's a few meters ahead. Come on."
They nodded in agreement and slowly the hallway lead into a large room that had terminals everywhere. It was the core of the ship and it's far wall had been ripped apart like it was nothing, leaving the entire room open to the reached of space.
And floating in the middle of this room, bound in what looked like a metal beam had been wrapped around the body, was a figure dressed in red. He had orange skin and was chained to the ceiling, floating in the middle of the air less room.
"Is that it?" Susan asked as she aimed her flash light at the being, "how is it even alive?"
"Alien biology?" Tandy guessed.
"What is it?" Wanda asked, "a space horse?"
"No," I replied as realisation dawned on me, "it's something so much cooler. Tandy?"
"Ah, are you sure we should do this? I mean, it could be dangerous..." the asked, unsure.
"Trust me..please," I asked. She sighed and nodded. Wanda looked annoyed, but sent Tandy up to the hanging captive.
The girl held out her hands and whispered an incantation under her breath. I flew up next to her and watched as her hands began to glow with the sign of the Lightforce preceness. It reached out through Tandy, the mark on her face glowing white as it did.
And then suddenly the figure's eyes came open as he gasped for air. He began to shake awake his mouth opened wide, crying out with no noise coming through he looked around, his eyes narrowing at Tandy, before he threw his neck out to bite at her.
"Tandy get back!" I called out as I stepped between her and the alien.
The alien cried out as it began flexing it's massive muscles, the iron bars slowly peeling back, groaning into the vacuum of space.
"Shit shit shit!" Tandy cried out as Wanda pulled her away.
"Bill!" I cried out, "Bill it's okay! Friends! We're trying to help!" I cried out before hitting myself in the head. We were in space, he couldn't hear us.
The orange horse faced alien cried out louder and louder, it moved, swinging on the pendulum it was stuck in, crying out but no sound coming through.
With no choice I reached out with my mental, forming a mental connection to him and bombarded him with a mental message, "Bill! We're trying to help you!"
His white eyes went wide. For a second, it looked like he was going to continue, when slowly he began to close his eyes, his last thoughts before he fainted from exhaustion were, "my people...my people."
I sighed in relief, watching the alien now unconscious, yet alive. I turned out the others and nodded, "it's safe."
"Do you know what it is?" Sue asked as she and the others came closer.
I nodded, "yes...kind off."
"You knew his name Peter..." Sue started with a blank look.
I sighed, "in another world he's someone who's strong enough and noble enough to wield Thor's hammer. His name is Beta Ray Bill," I turned to the orange skinned horse faced behemoth of a humanoid, "and he's actually kind of cool."
"...Fine, whatever, what now?" Wanda asked with a sigh.
I released my stingers, "we cut him down."
Inside Liberty:
I dropped the silent figure with a bang on the operating table of my lab. Sue lowered the telekinetic shield she had placed around him and pressed a button to activate a force field around the table, locking him in place.
"Damn that guy was heavy," I groaned rolling my shoulders, "he must have weighed a ton."
"First, for our vaccine," Sue picked up a syringe and tossed it to me. I sent it telekinetically through the one way barrier we had made. After drawing a little blood I brought it back out, lowering the shield for a second, and handed the vial to Sue, "Sexy, show Dr. Storm the Golden Fleece project."
"Yes Peter," the AI replied, "I have sent it to you terminal already Dr. Storm."
"Thanks," Sue replied, taking the vial. She looked at it and then at me, and suddenly I was hit with the smell of copper.
"What's wrong?" I asked. She looked like she was about to say nothing when I sighed, "you know I can smell your emotions right?"
Sue sighed, "right, forgot you could do that...it's...nothing. I just...I'm a little annoyed at hitting a dead end with my research is all, nothing important," her heart was beating faster, she was lying.
I was about to call her out on it when suddenly a gasp came from Beta Ray as the creature began to suck in large quantities of air.
I walked up to the creature and looked down. He opened his eyes slowly and looked up me, "w-who are you?"
"My name is Peter Parker," I told him with a smile, "I'm from Earth. Your safe now, rest Bill, we'll get you on your feet soon enough."
"No-no I can't I must get back to my people," Beta Ray coughed, releasing a wad of red and black oil like substance that dripped down his horse chin.
"No you can't, you need to rest," I told him.
"No, m-my people need me."
"Bill...you were the only one left," I spoke softly, my words caused him to pause, looking up at me in horror.
"W-what?"
"You were the only one left alive...your ship was broken in half and well...we didn't find any other survivors."
"What about the other ships? The ones following mine?!"
I blinked, "I'm sorry, but we only found yours...where there more?"
"I-I...yes...Peter Parker from Earth...I thank you for what you have done. You have saved my life, but I must get back to my people," he pulled himself up and threw his legs over the table, standing up only to be knocked back down by the barrier before him.
"W-what is this?" he asked, pressing his hand against the wall.
"A barrier, we didn't know if you could be trusted," I replied, "and until you are healthy again it's best you stay in there."
"I'm sorry," Bill whispered, "but I disagree," he drew his fist back and threw it forward.
My spidey senses went off, "Sue get down!" I threw myself at the woman pulling her down. The moment Bill's fist impacted the barrier, a surge of energy exploded out like a bomb, shattering the barrier.
"What the fuck?!" I looked back as Bill stepped out of the now shattered field, I turned to Sue, "you okay?"
"Y-yes," she nodded hesitantly.
"Good," I growled, pissed off, "hide, I'll take this fight elsewhere," I got up and approached Bill, "we saved your life and you repay us by blowing up our fucking lab?!"
"And I am sorry Peter Parker, but my people need me and I will not fail them," Bill replied, stepping up with shoulder drawn and narrowed eyes, "please, do not stand in my way."
"How do you even plan on running away? You don't have a ship," I snapped, the horse faced ass really was starting to piss me off. Wasn't he supposed to be 'worthy' or something?
"That is true. I do not have a ship...but you do," he said solemnly.
I blinked, "oh...you did not just threaten to take my ship."
"I swear Peter Parker, stand down now and I will not harm you and your crew. I will send you off safe and sound and return your ship to you once I have found my people again. I swear on the pride of my people."
"Yeah, just one problem with that. No one touches my ship," I narrowed my eyes throwing my hands out and wordlessly summoning the crimson bands of Cyttorak to wrap Bill up like the mummy before he even realised what was happening.
"Strong," the horse faced bipedal grunted, struggling to break free, "what are you Peter Parker?"
"Something else. Now stand down," I wanted him.
"I am sorry, but I cannot," he growled as he began flexing his arms. His blood vessels began to bulge, becoming more prominent.
"Yeah I wouldn't bother with that if I were you. Those things are nearly impossible to break, even the Hulk would-"
"ARGH!" he roared as suddenly-
SNAP!
"Oh you have got to be kidding me!" I cried out as Bill tore the bands apart with a chilling primal roar. I sent a bio-blast at him, hopping to stun him still, but the blue lighting did nothing but further annoy him.
"Get out of my way!" he roared as he charged at me. He took a swing, but I easily bolted over his head, landing behind him. However he didn't stop to fight as he simply crashed through the lab doors, blowing them apart.
"I literally just built this thing!" I cried out as I charged behind Bill, not even five days and it was destroyed. Bill was running aimlessly through hall, he would reach the library if he did and I really don't want Wanda to know how badly I fucked up.
"Sexy, lift doors!" I called out.
"On it," the AI replied as the doors opened up just as Bill was passing them.
"Oye ugly!" I shot a web line and pulled myself forward, jumping over Bill and landed on the wall before him. I then launched myself at him with enough force to dent the metal wall and come ploughing into Bill's side pushing him into the incoming elevator.
"You're strong," Bill grunted as he got back up, holding his side, "not many can match my strength."
"Yeah well, if it was an ugly contest you would win no question," I grunted as I pressed the button for the training room.
Bill threw his hands up to grab me, but his size made him slow. I ducked under his arms and slid past his legs getting behind him. I jumped on his back and shot a web line across his throat and wrapped it around his head.
"What is this?! Are you part Prokian?!"
"If you mean spider, then yeah?!" I cried out as I grabbed the end of the webline and began choking him. I charged my fusts with bio electricty once more and fired point blank at his face.
"ARGH!" he cried out, for a moment he movements began to slow, but then he grabbed at the webbing, trying and failing to snap it apart.
He moved his massive body backwards, trying to crush me against the elevator walls. I jumped again and landed before him, pulling his head down with me and bringing my knee up for a powerful strike.
CRACK!
"ARGH!" Bill held his nose in pain, throwing a punch at met head. I ducked, just as the doors opened to the training room.
"Come on Bill! Come get me!" I baited him as I opened the door past the terminal and into the wide training room, inside of which Jessica and Felicia were currently training on an obstacle course.
"Peter?" Jessica turned back in surprise.
"Busy!" I called back as I shot a web line and swung away, just as Bill was about to tackle me again.
"Come face me you Prokian!" he roared, "fight like a Korbinite!"
"Why don't you come fight like a Prokian?" I quipped.
"ARGH!" he charged once again. I jumped and lead him into the obstacle course. I ducked and served past every blockade and stun bolt that came at me, while Bill just rushed through like a bull in a china shop, crushing every obstacle that came in his path.
"Felica, Jessica, get out!" I cried.
"Fuck that! We need to take that thing down before he wrecks the whole ship!" Jessica spat back.
"Not the time Jessy! We need to pin him down! Go outside and activate the gravity function!" I called out, "I need him to stop moving for just a second!"
"On it!" Felicia cried as she ran out, Jessica following right behind her.
"Peter Parker!" Bill cried out, "enough of your games!" he brought his fists together and jumped into the air like a cannonball.
"Shit!" I cried out as I created a psionic barrier between us. He shattered it like glass. I shot a web line at the last second and pulled myself away, missing his fists by a few inches.
"Peter!' Felicia called out.
"Now!" I yelled as I fired another webline at the door and pulled myself out.
"Come back here!" Bill roared as he changed after me. The second I cleared it into the terminal room Felicia smash the gravity button and immediately increased the gravity of the room into ten times that of Earth's.
"GAH!" Bill cried out in pain as he dropped to his knees, "w-what is this?!"
"It's called a gravity well," I stopped up, bio-electricity sparking between my fingers, "Jessica?"
"My pleasure," she replied as we both aimed out bio-blasts at Bill and fired. The first time didn't do anything, it just made him angry. But he couldn't move, pinned down by the increased gravity.
So we fired again and again and again, until finally, he dropped like a sack of potatoes.
Jessica was panting, sweating from the several energy blasts she had sent out, "what the hell was that thing?"
"My guess?" I sighed, "orange space Hulk. Just ah...do me a favour? Don't tell Wanda?"
"Parker?!" the elevator doors opened up at that very second as a pissed of Wanda Maximoff and worried Susan Storm walked in, "I told you not to pick him up! I warned you! Now look what happened!"
I hanged my head in shame, "oh god help me..."
Some time later:
We were all gathered in the controller's room, even Logan, who seemed just as curious about our new guest as everyone else. Wanda was glaring down at him, Felicia and Jessica were curious. Tandy was a little scared, but then again she's probably the most sane of us so being scared isn't a bad thing. Scott was also here, now wearing his old visor, ready to blast Bill in the face if the need arose. Hopefully it would not.
Beta Ray Bill's eyes blinked as slowly he came too again, looking around with a druzy swing of his head.
"If he gets free again I'm throwing him into the nearest sun," Wanda hissed.
I sighed, "I said I'm sorry didn't I?"
"You can't judge people based on different version of them you're aware of in the multiverse Peter," Wanda hissed, looking cross, "I understand your perception of reality is different thanks to that Web of Life thing you always go on about, but use some of that big brain of yours and think for a second why don't you?"
"Ergh?" Bill blurted out as his language tongue hangs loosely form its mouth, "I cath felp anything."
"Sorry about that after effects of being stunned," I shrugged, "please don't try to escape this time. I really don't want Wanda to throw you into a star."
"Eh?" Bill titled his head as he looked down, finding himself still in the Training room now handcuffed by a single black and blue handcuff. He began flexing his massive arms again, trying to break free, only to find it impossible.
"Not happening big guy," I told him, "those can't be broken, not now, not ever. Too strong, so don't even try."
"And if you even think about getting up, I have this ready to go at a hundred times normal gravity," Felicia added on her own threat, a vicious gleam in her eyes.
"Y-you need to let me go," Bill muttered, his speech functions coming back to him, "m-my people, I need to save my people."
"I told you Bill," I narrowed my eyes, "you were the only one there...no other ships, nothing."
"No-no that's not possible," Bill replied, hanging his head, "we were attacked and I….I could not stop them..."
"Who?" I asked, "who attacked you?"
Bill raised his head as he narrowed his eyes, "they called themselves the Black Order...they had….I don't know what they were. Savage beasts nearly as large as me. Four arms, black...I...I could not stop them. They were like a swarm, a plague...they wanted to kill my people."
"No," I narrowed my eyes, "not all of them...half."
Beta Ray Bill looked up, his eyes wide, "how did you know that?"
"Because we meet them too," I replied.
"We have?" Felicia looked confused, something everyone mimicked.
I nodded, holding out my hand to let my suit create a small hologram on the palm of my hand, showing the video I had recorded on Asgard, of me killing one of Thanos' children, "the Black Order is the personal army of the mad Titan Thanos. He's...well, insane. He attacked Earth with the Chitauri," I turned to my crew, "the battle of New York? It was his doing. Loki was just his pawn. The one that attacked you, what did they look like?"
Bill hummed, "small..thin, blading with black and white robes. He moved slowly and don't seem like a threat at the time...but he...he beat me without throwing a single punch."
"Ebony Maw," I replied putting the hologram away, "he's a powerful telepath. Very dangerous. You need to think, you can't punch your way through him."
"Why? Why did he attack us? We have no quarrel with him, none," Bill whispered, "my people are innocent, they can't hurt anyone."
"It's because of Thanos' philosophy," I answered, "he believes that since the universe has limited resources and its dwindling fast, the only way to ensure life continues is by...eradicating half of it. It's what he wanted to do on Earth...I suspect it's what he did for you as well..."
"Then….I have failed..." Bill hung his head, the shame seemed to pull all the life the horse headed alien had in him.
"Maybe not yet," Logan spoke up, surprising everyone. He turned to me, "you said they kill half of all life, right?" I nodded, "then that means you still have half your people alive. You didn't fail yet horse mouth."
"I-I didn't?" Bill looked up, almost afraid of the hope before his eyes.
"No," I mumbled, "but that begs another question. If they did kill only half, where are they? In fact, if they did kill half where are the rest of their bodies? We found only Bill in there, surely we would have found the dead bodied of the rest of his people."
"Really sounding like a bummer there Pete," Johnny grumbled.
"Johnny, I think what Peter is trying to say is that something must have happened to Bill's people before that," Sue spoke up, "if there is no body, there was no crime. So that means-"
"-My people can still be alive?!" Bill asked in shock as he jumped to his feet.
"Sit!" Felicia cried out as she activated the enhanced gravity.
"Ep!" Bill cried out as he fell flat on the ground like a pancake.
"Felicia!" Jessica called out.
"I warned him," Felicia shrugged as she switched off the gravity.
"A-apologize," Bill panted as he got back to his knees, "I was just excited, it will not happen again. But the chance of my people being alive...can it real be true?"
I turned to the others and sighed, "maybe...like Sue said, no body no crime...but the question is where."
"My ship has a built in tracker, with it I can find the ships!" Bill cried out, "if you would just let me try," he got on one knee.
"Oye! Hello, scary woman with a big red button!" Felicia called out. Bill immediately gulped and put his knee back down.
"S-sorry. But please, you are a good person, you didn't have to save me but you did, Just let me get the locator chip and drop me off at the least galactic planet and I swear you will never hear from me again."
I looked at the orange faced aline. I turned to Wanda, she narrowed her eyes. I pouted, Tandy joined me, apparently she took a liking to the big orange space hulk.
"Fine!" Wanda sighed rubbing her temple, "but I meant what I said!" she cried out, pointing a finger at Beta Ray Bill, "try something funny and I'll throw you into a sun myself!"
"Well then it's decided," I grinned snapping my fingers to unlock the vibranium cuffs Bill had on, "welcome to the team Bill."
"Thank you," he was about to move before turning to Felicia for permission. Like she was giving permission for her dog to climb onto the couch, Kitten nodded, though she gave a warning glare as well, "if you don't mind me asking, where exactly are you heading?"
"Xandar."
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