บท 13: She's gone
"Wow."
Those were the only words Naruto could use to describe the city of Xandaria, capital city to the planet of Xandar. Unlike Earth, where a city lives in a county, which lives in a state or region, which lives in a country, which lives in a continent; Xandar wasn't divided, but united under a single flag. This seemed to be a major similarity in several major world powers such as Hala or Skrullos. Tara had felt the need to inform him about the Xandarian way of life, with Xandar being ruled by their Empress, Adora Volt. The ruler is selected by a council of governors and military leaders, with the prerequisites being that they needed to have served at least ten years within the Nova Corps, with their ranking needing to be Denarian, they also need to have spent another ten years in a high government position, and finally need the backing of several dozen government leaders throughout the world. And that's just to be nominated as a candidate, there was a lot more vetting that needed to be done, and then there was the world-wide vote that took place when it was narrowed down to two people. Usually, the Emperor or Empress of Xandar is in their late fifties at the youngest, but Empress Adora was in her early forties, described as a military prodigy went through the ranks with ease and became the Governor of some regent when she was twenty-five.
Speaking of ranks, apparently their military's ranking system is similar to that of the Elemental Nations. The Corpsman are Genin, the Millennians are Chunin, the Denarians was a go between, though Naruto supposed he could compare it to a Special Jonin, and finally Centurions are Jonins. Then you have the Nova Prime who Naruto could compare to the Hokage in several ways. Supposedly, all soldiers in the Nova Corps have access to the "Nova Force," a source of power created and sustained by the Xandarian government. The power however is kept under check, once again this is all hearsay, because the power can cause various side effects depending on the mentality of the user, from heightened aggression to full blown madness, with the Centurions are vetted heavily to ensure that they won't succumb when given complete access to it.
The city of Xandaria was incredibly large, with towering skyscrapers that eclipsed the buildings within New York City entirely, their structure however being more circular in shape. Set in the middle of a body of water, the city was shaped after the Nova symbol, a six-point star to be exact, whether it was natural or manmade unknown to Naruto, the blonde man to busy marveling at the shining metropolis. What impressed Naruto the most about the city was that it was massive, around the size of Rhode Island all together.
"Impressive, isn't it?" Tara asked, walking up next to the still flabbergasted blonde, "Though, I think that the city of Kreed is my personal favorite, a little less…snobbish."
"Snobbish?" Naruto asked.
Tara shrugged, "The Xandarian people are known throughout the galaxy for being a bit…self-righteous, Xandar is the wealthiest planet, with Xandaria being the wealthiest city in the system, along with having the most prestigious military slash police force in several galaxies."
The ninja gave a slow nod, "So, you guys mentioned a war?"
"The Thousand Year War." She clarified, "No one truly knows what the catalyst was, though the popular belief is that the war started when a Kree battleship destroyed a Xandarian transport unit carrying civilians. After that, Xandar declared war and they've been fighting ever sense. Sure, there've been lulls here or there, but for the most part this war has been a brutal mess."
"So you've got two worlds fighting a war that has been going on for so long most of them don't really know what they're fighting for to begin with? Why not end it if that's the case?"
"Well, one of the major reasons for the Xandarian's vast wealth is that they've made a massive profit off the war." Tara folded her arms under her bust, "Then you have the Kree people, most of whom are heavily militarized, with a good handful of their military leaders being highly fanatical in their belief that Xandar needs to be wiped from existence, Ronan the Accuser being the most outspoken."
Naruto shook his head, "Still, for a war to last a thousand years. That's just unthinkable to me."
"They've been having peace negotiations for a decade now, but it's a slow process. Hopefully it will end within the next few decades, but who's to say."
Naruto looked over at Tara, "Do you really not care?"
Tara shrugged again, "War is good for business as far as the Ravagers go. Xandar or Kree will send out a bounty, or someone will need something smuggled in or out of somewhere, or something needs to be stolen for some strategical nonsense. Do I want the war to end though? I suppose."
Naruto was about to continue when Martinex spoke up behind him, his head poking out from the doorway, "We'll be landing in half an hour, from there I'll have Tara and Stoveer take you to the Broker to get you a Unit Transfer Apparatus. From there we'll get your Unit Account set up so that we can transfer to you your Units." His head retracted back, only to pop back as he spoke again, more than likely as an afterthought, "Also, the Captain would like to meet you down in the hanger before you depart."
"Got it, thanks." Naruto said to the retreating first mate, "Stoveer?" He asked to Tara.
The daughter of Stakar began to walk over to the door, "He's pretty much our accountant. He'll make sure you get a good Uta and that your payment transfers smoothly."
Naruto followed after Tara, an eyebrow raised, "Uta?"
"It's what people call the Unit Transfer Apparatus. If you're going to travel around the galaxy, you're going to need to get a grip on the lingo."
Scoffing, Naruto said, "I'm trying my best here Tara, give me a break."
"Is that the same kind of 'trying your best' as when I tried to teach you how to fly a M-Ship for the first time?" Tara asked, "Because if it wasn't for me you would've crashed into that cliff side." Looking over her shoulder, she smirked at the now pouting blonde.
Naruto couldn't help but think about his first flying lesson, something Stakar had insisted upon. Tara had taken him out while they were fueling up the Starhawk, the woman sitting in the co-pilot chair, showing Naruto all the things he'd need to know. From the throttle positioned on his right, to the fuel gage, to the autopilot controls, and so on and so forth. What Naruto found interesting was that if programmed in, the co-pilot could take control of the ship at any point with a shift of their throttle, with the pilot being able to do the same as well. According to Tara, this was because there are somethings the pilot can't see, and with how volatile the star ways are, it's safer just to have the co-pilot take immediate control rather than give the warning verbally, have the pilot take notice, and for the pilot to then take action.
So, as soon as Naruto had a pretty good understanding of where everything was, Tara handed him the reigns. Stupid decision on her part. He had almost immediately lost control of the ship, nearly crashing them into the side of a cliff before Tara took back control. Much to his consternation, Stakar and his crew were quick to let him know how poor his piloting skills were, claiming that Tara was a better pilot then he was at five years old. The rest of the month-long trip towards Xandar consisted of Tara and Naruto working on his piloting, with Naruto taking out one of their worse for wear ships out in case he decided to crash it. Once again, thank goodness for the Prayer Beads of Saraswati and its ability to not only allow him to understand every language verbally, but any written language as well, otherwise there would've been no way for Naruto to read the instruction manual given to him by Tara.
"I'll have you know your dad told me I was as good as Martinex." Naruto said, stuffing his hands in his pockets.
"Martinex is one of our worst pilots." Tara pointed out.
"…seriously?" Naruto asked weakly.
"Is it really that shocking you suck at something brat? Last I checked, you weren't exactly the greatest fighter around when you first started out." Kurama stated, "In fact, Genjutsu still isn't your strong suit, even with your newer abilities."
Naruto decided to ignore Kurama, staying quiet for the rest of the walk towards the hanger. When they finally arrived, the duo saw Stakar standing in front of a rather new looking M-Ship. The ship wasn't actually shaped like a 'm,' that simply being the English translation to the Arcturan word it really resembled. If Naruto were to describe it, he'd say it was more like a x with the center split and connected by a horizontal line (-). Anyway, the ship was lean and slick, with its main color scheme being red with purple accents. It was slightly smaller than the standard M-Ship, more than likely more suited for a small group rather than an entire crew of people.
Stakar, his arms folded across his chest with his standard cigar slipped between his fingers, took notice of them, "You sure you don't wanna join my crew kid? We could use someone as destructive as you, that's for sure. That and we need a new pretty boy, my mugs gotten a little saggy in my old age."
Naruto gave an apologetic smile, "Sorry Stakar, but I think I'm gonna have to turn you down…again." The captain of the Starhawk had been rather adamant that the blonde join his crew, the man obviously impressed with his show of power on Hiberlac. In truth, Naruto could see himself joining them, but he had things he had to do, and sadly hanging around these scallywags wasn't one of them.
Stakar shrugged, almost as though he didn't care either way, "Well, I suppose I should leave you with a parting gift. That, and since you did most of the work in taking down Blastaar, I figure I might as well give you a little something extra." Patting the side of the ship, Stakar smirked, "Say hello to your new ship brat."
Shock spread across Naruto's face, the ninja honestly not having expected the man to give him one of his ships. From what Tara and Martinex had told him, you were only given a M-Ship when you had proven yourself as a Ravager. So, for Stakar to give him one of his ships, even Naruto could tell this was an oddity.
"Tha-thank you, Stakar." Naruto said, truthfully thankful for this gift.
Stakar patted Naruto on the shoulder, "Well, can't have you taking anymore naps in space, now can I?"
Naruto chuckled, "No…no I suppose not."
Stakar then turned towards Tara, "Once you help him take care of his business, meet me back at the ship, we'll be rendezvousing with a squad of Centurions in five hours." Turning back to Naruto he said, "You can either stay on the ship while we're still here, or you can go ahead and find yourself a place to stay, either way, be ready for the fact that we are going to be called to meet some kind of bureaucrat either by the end of the day today or sometime tomorrow for our payment."
Naruto nodded, "Right, I'll probably just find a place of my own, get it over with I suppose."
Stakar nodded, the man giving him one last pat on the shoulder before walking past him, his business with the group over with. It was then that someone spoke, "Nice ride Flame Boy, I hear she's mighty fast when she wants to be."
Turning around, Naruto saw a man resembling a hairless rat walking over towards them. The ninja had seen him periodically around the ship, the guy usually sticking to himself as far as eating in the mess hall and walking throughout the ship went.
"Flame Boy?" Naruto asked incredulously, "And you're Stoveer I'm guessing?"
Stoveer nodded, "Right on the first guess, and that's what the crew's been calling you, what with you being on fire when we found you and all."
"Super original." Naruto deadpanned.
The rat man shrugged, "No one's ever called a Ravager creative."
-x-
Naruto stood inside a rather small building, the place no bigger than your average fast food restaurant. Looking around, the blonde could see various pieces of expensive looking jewelry and trinkets, some truly confusing Naruto as to what their purpose was. Apparently, this Broker's jewelry business was a front, his true business being more black-market in nature, with him being the go between in most dealings. Broker would be contacted by whoever, them wanting something valuable that was hard to obtain, Broker would then contact someone like the Ravagers for instance, the Ravagers would find and 'confiscate' the valuable object, they would give it to Broker, he would pay them, then the Broker would sell the object to the employer. Standard stuff. Today however, such under the table dealings weren't necessary, as Naruto's group was looking for a cheap but durable Uta for the blonde warrior.
Broker, who seemed to be of the same species as Stoveer, looked at the Ravager duo with slight apprehension, "You do realize just how incredibly unorthodox this is I hope? When you called me, I was under the assumption that you were looking to do business, not well…actual business."
Stoveer scoffed, "You know damn well we don't deal in 'business' with you Broker, not after what happened with Yondu." Nodding over to Naruto he said, "We're only here because you sell cheap Utas, which Flame Boy over here needs if he wants to survive."
"Don't make us regret coming here Broker." Tara spoke in, "Your lucky our Captain didn't call in an embargo after he heard of the business you and Yondu were dealing in. He still deems you as useful, seeing as how a majority of our Clans use you and your business. But that can change."
That subtle warning seemed to have cowed Broker, as he gave a quick bow, his voice quivering in worry as he spoke, "Of course, of course! My apologies, I'll get what you're looking for right away. Just a moment."
Naruto stepped forward, his eyebrow raised in curiosity as he asked, "Embargo? Does Stakar really have that kind of power?"
Stoveer turned to Naruto, "Stakar is the longest running Captain in the history of the Ravagers, with his original team being the most infamous among the Galaxy. And since every member of that team is now a Captain of their own Clan, all of whom are influential in their own right, Stakar's word carries a lot of weight."
"So what did this guy do to piss him off so much?" Naruto wondered.
Stoveer faced away from him, "That's Ravager business Flame Boy, and last I heard, you're not a Ravager."
"Seriously?" Naruto asked skeptically.
"Naruto." Tara said, her voice firmer than usual, "Just drop it, it's a personal issue."
"Hmm…it seems this 'Yondu' and Broker did something frowned upon, probably something to do with that Ravager Code of theirs." Kurama surmised.
"No shit." Naruto thought, "That's obviously what's going on. I'm just curious as to what went down for Stakar to get that pissed off." The ninja decided to shut up, not seeing reason to continue a conversation that would obviously rather be ignored by the two Ravagers in his company.
Broker came around from the back a few minutes later, a white object in the shape of an oval in his hands. Walking over towards Naruto, he held the device out in front of him, "Which is you nondominant hand?" He asked.
"Left." Naruto answered.
The rat man nodded, "Your left arm then please." He didn't wait for Naruto to stretch his arm out, grabbing it and positioning it in front of him. Placing the white disk onto Naruto's forearm, he positioned it just under his wrist so that it stopped a few inches before the middle of his forearm, "You're going to feel a bit of a…pinch." He warned.
"It's going to wha-MOTHER FUCKER!"
-x-
"Thank you, come again."
Naruto nodded with a smile on his face as he began to walk away from the stand, the blonde ninja now by himself as he walked around the shopping district. After getting his Uta, which hurt like a bitch when it was internally wired into his forearm. After that, the Ravager duo set him up with a hotel before going on their way, telling him that they had his contact information via his Uta, which could apparently make calls for some reason. Feeling kind, Stoveer lent Naruto a couple hundred Units to hold him over until he got his cut transferred over, the rat man feeling the need to tell him that he was taking it out of his portion, asshole.
Now on his own, Naruto decided to walk around and see the sights, the other worlder having found cluster of shops forming a quaint little shopping district hidden in the massive city. His first stop being a small little clothing shack, Naruto bought a cheap grey jacket that was zipped up to his lower chest, the top portion of the open collar flipped up and over. Now looking for a bite to eat, Naruto looked through the various stands, his eye brows raised at the strange looking…things they were selling. He honestly couldn't tell if they were fruits, vegetables, or something in between. He attempted several times to get assistance, but the place was so crowded it was hard to get a word in.
A tap on his shoulder caused him to turn his head over to see a woman, her head mostly covered by cloth, similar to a hijab worn by Muslim women back on Earth only that it kept a bit more of her face from view. His eyebrow raised he said, "Yes?"
The woman looked up slightly, more of her face coming into view. Her deep caramel skin tone was smooth, with full red lips that were pulled into a small smile. Amusement could be seen in her dark brown eyes. Strands of slightly wavy hair fighting to escape their confinement showed Naruto that she had dark brown hair that was almost black. She was truly beautiful. The rest of her cloths were pretty standard as far as he'd seen, with a faded green long sleeve shirt and grey pants.
"You seem to be having trouble." She said, her voice having a surprising smoothness.
Naruto chuckled, "That obvious?"
She nodded, "Xandaria is a hub for all varieties of people, some from the edge of the known universe. That is why we have such a diverse collection here, so we of Xandaria can try different things, and so people from far away can have something a little familiar." Looking over Naruto's shoulder at the stand closest to him she said, "This stand here sells fruit from Hala, they're quite delicious."
Looking over, he gave the stand a quick look over. Satisfied he turned back over, "Thanks a lot-" only to find that she was gone, "What the hell?" He sighed in exasperation.
Buying the less weird looking fruit at the stand, Naruto left the shopping district, now fighting his way through a crowd through a narrow alleyway. All around him he could hear the sounds of bustling restaurants, sign spinners shouting out why you should visit their store, and fly vehicles zooming by hundreds of feet above. Finishing off the purple piece of fruit, Naruto thought, "That was actually pretty good. I'd prefer an apple or something, but whatever."
"You're lucky for that good Samaritan, otherwise you'd still be walking around like an idiot." Kurama chuckled out.
"Yeah I know." It was then that he spotted something in front of him, "Speak of the devil."
There, walking a few yards in front of him, was the mystery woman. Deciding to walk over and give him his belated thanks, something else caught his eye. A man, or what he was assuming was a man, was stealthily making his way towards the mystery woman. His head in the shape of a curved cone, with pointed ears and a skin tone that was a mix of grey and yellow. Wearing a dark grey jacket that was a few sizes too big, Naruto watched as the man bumped into the woman. The two of them stumbled, one a display of decent acting ability. Giving the woman a quick apology, the man went on his merry way. By the time the woman realized her bag was missing, he was already gone, submerged into the crowd.
Naruto was already on the move, weaving his way as fast as he could through the ever thick crowd of people. Making his way next to the woman he said, "Did you see where he went?"
Looking up in surprise, it took her only a second to recognize the man she had assisted earlier, "Uh, yes." Pointing over to the right, Naruto followed her finger over to an alleyway. Nodding, Naruto made his way over.
"Excuse me!" He shouted, "Pardon me!" He bellowed, "Move dammit!" He finally screamed. He cries went unheard, the blonde ninja forced to practically swim through the sea of people. Finally breaking through, Naruto sprinted into the alleyway the woman told him the thief escaped into. As he entered, he immediately saw him walking casually, his hands in his jacket pockets. Just as Naruto was about to take the guy out, someone flew past him. The mystery woman, much to his shock. Showing a speed he honestly wasn't expecting, Naruto watched in mild fascination as the man noticed her coming his way, and made a run for it himself.
Running up the side of a building, the man grabbed ahold of a latter on the side. Scaling up the latter with the quickness of a spider, the man was quickly followed by the woman, pulling off the same moves he had, only with a grace and ease he'd only seen back on his planet. Not wanting to be left out, Naruto ran up and jumped on to the side of the building, sticking to the side with his chakra. Making his way up to the roof of the building just a few seconds after the first two, Naruto came to the site of them pulling off some impressive parkour, jumping and flipping over any obstacle that came in their path. Only, while the thief's was a little more raw, his movements reeking of inexperience, the woman moved like a cheetah on the hunt, with a tamed grace that screamed decades of training.
"Who the hell is this chick?" Naruto asked out loud as they both jumped across the ledge of another building, both landing with a quick roll before continuing the chase.
"You know you could end this with a flick of your wrist, right?" Kurama asked testily.
Naruto smirked, "Where's the fun in that? This isn't something you see every day Kurama."
That was until the thief pulled out something from his pocket and turned around to face her, the object being what looked like a knife. Before the man or woman could move another inch, Naruto's hand wrapped around the thief's wrist, the sound of his bones popping out of place heard by all around.
"Wha?" The man asked, his face scrunched up in pain as he looked at Naruto in surprise.
"Anyone ever tell you it's not nice to steal from a woman, force her to chase you across a set of roof tops, then pull a knife on her?" Naruto asked, his eyes narrowed dangerously.
"Where did you come from?" The woman asked, "I had it handled by the way."
"I'm sure you did." Naruto said, not taking his eyes off of the thief, "You were running and jumping around like a spider monkey. It was impressive honestly."
"Spider monkey?" The thief asked.
Naruto squeezed his wrist even harder, "I don't think I was talking to you Hermey."
"Hermey?" The woman asked.
"From Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer?" Naruto asked only to shake his head, "Never mind, I keep forgetting I'm not on Earth." Looking back at her, he said, "What's your name anyway?"
"It's Bogget." The thief answered, only to scream out in pain when the grip around his wrist grew even tighter, if that were possible.
"Not you!" Naruto said firmly, "For fucks say man."
"Gal."
Naruto raised an eyebrow, "Gal?" Seeing her nod he asked, "As in like Gal Gadot, from those Fast and Furious movies?" After a second, he realized what he said before shaking his head once again, "Sorry…Earth thing again."
"You gotta stop doing that. You look like an idiot."
"Duly noted." Naruto thought.
Gal, tired of waiting, reached forward and grabbed the bag taken by the thief. Looking inside, she gave a quick nod at seeing everything was in order before walking away. Naruto, shocked said, "He-hey, wait!" Looking back and forth at her and Bogget, Naruto ended at the thief, "Usually I'd give a speech about the morality of whatever, and try and get you to change your ways…but I've gotta a woman to run after…that sounded weird." Naruto and Bogget took an awkward couple seconds before the blonde decided to end it by punching the cone head alien in the nose, knocking him out before he hit the floor.
Running after Gal, Naruto caught up to her pretty quickly. Walking up behind her, Naruto once again raised an eyebrow (something he'd been doing a lot of today) as Gal jumped down the side of the building, grabbing ahold of the ladder before sliding down like a champ. Jumping down, Naruto landed on the ground in a slight crouch. Stuffing his hands in his pocket as Gal landed next to him.
"Are you following me?" Gal asked.
Naruto shrugged, "Not really. I'm just curious."
"Of?"
"You."
Gal stopped in her tracks and looked over at Naruto. Eyeing him up and down she said, "And what about me are you so interested about?"
"How about the fact that you pulled off some impressive parkour for a bag of whatever? Or the fact that a minute ago you were a super sweet lady then a super aggressive ninja the next?"
A smile spread across her face, "Super sweet lady? Is that what you think of me?"
Naruto gave a single shoulder shrug, "I suppose. I doubt anyone else would've helped me out like you did."
"You make it sound like I helped you with something important." Gal chuckled out.
Naruto laughed, "Hey, feeding the crevice that is my stomach is important." After a second of thought he asked, "So why were you all over that bag?"
Gal looked at Naruto for several seconds before walking forward, "How about I tell you over drinks?"
"Drinks?" Naruto asked, following after Gal as she lead him to the nearest bar.
The hijab wearing woman nodded, "I was planning on having a drink before my bag got taken. And since it's obvious you're not going to leave me alone, I figure you might as well join me."
Naruto gave thoughtful look, "I could go for a drink, how are the bars on this planet?"
"They're alright."
-x-
Location: The City of Cog on the planet Xandar
-x-
"Is this the place?"
"Sadly, yes."
Standing in the pouring rain were two men, their forms barely illuminated by various fluorescent lightings owned by the rinky dink bars and strip clubs. The tallest of the two wore a more militaristic uniform, with a dark blue flak jacket with three circular yellow lights with the top two connected to the bottom over a matching colored long sleeve shirt and combat pants. His face was covered by helmet that covered everything but the mouth that was grey in color with yellow highlights. In between the eyes was the Nova symbol, only it lacked the top two points of the star, showing that he was of Denarian in rank.
"So are we gonna stand out here in the downpour, or are we going to go inside?" The Denarian asked.
The shorter of the duo wore a dark green trench coat over a button up grey shirt only the collar was propped up with a long sleeve shirt that was a darker grey. A hat was perched rather lazily atop his head, covering his blue skinned face from the rain by at least a little bit. Pulling out a small package, the man opened it up and pulled out a piece of candy before popping it into his mouth. Taking several satisfied chews, the man took a deep sigh before making his way inside.
The door was halfway open when he turned back towards the Denarian to say, "I'd watch my step if I were you Denarian Saal, one of the interns wasn't watching where he was going and tripped on a limb."
Saal rolled his eyes, not that the man in front of him could see it with his helmet covering his face, "I'm not one of your green horn interns Krag, my rank should tell you that."
Krag shrugged, popping another piece of candy into his mouth, "You'd be surprised how many Denarians I've seen act like fools, promoted because of the blood in their veins rather than the blood they've spilt." A smile spread across his face, "And we both know which kind you are, Garthan of House Saal."
"Did you ever actually fight in the war? Or were you too busy scrounging for gutter tramps?" Saal fired back.
"Funny." Krag chuckled, "And I'll have you know I did both."
The two were now fully in the room, with Saal having to keep himself from gasping at the sight before them. The bar was flooded with various colors of blood, from green, blue, to purple, the colors were splattered all across the floor, walls, and furniture. Saal couldn't help but be reminded of mixed paint, the colors spilling into each other. Laying in that pool of color was a mountain of corpses, none of them in one piece. Arms, legs, heads, various organ parts, it was a people salad.
"I can't believe he was here. Of all places." Saal said, kneeling down and turning over the corpse laying in front of him. It was a woman, wearing a what looked like a waitress uniform, her left leg cleaved off and her entrails spilling out onto the floor beneath her, "Poor woman. How could she have ever thought her life would end so painfully?"
Krag shrugged, "She should've ran the second he entered the bar."
"She was dead the second he entered the bar." Saal fired back, resting her back like she was before, "Was there security footage?"
Reaching into his pocket, Krag pulled out a small tablet. Swiping through, the detective found the footage he was looking for before pulling it up and showing the screen to the Nova officer, "Of course we did, this is right as he enters."
Saal took the tablet out of Krag's hands. He watched with interest as a man walked through the bar door. He was tall, needing to duck under the doorframe in order to enter, with thick muscles that screamed strength. His blonde hair was tied into a tight little ponytail which was sticking out of a silver helmet that looked like something worn by the slave warriors of Sakaar. Strapped to his back was a mini armory, with a longsword, battle axe, shield, and a handful of other weapons placed in strategic places. Green armor covered his shoulders, forearms, thighs, and legs, leaving his chest and biceps bare. Walking over to the bar, the warrior took a seat, ordered a drink, and then proceeded to mind his own business. It wasn't long until we was given his drink before he was confronted by one of the patrons at the end of the bar.
"Is there any sound to this?" Saal asked.
Krag shook his head, "Yeah, the button to the side."
Saal nodded, pressing the button to turn on the volume, rewinding the clip to wear the patron first spoke.
"-er heard of that guy 'The God Slayer?'" The patron asked, obviously drunk as he swayed in his place.
The warrior said nothing, simply taking a sip from his drink. Finishing the glass, he motioned for a refill. The bartender complied, walking over and filling the fighter's drink.
"Hey!" The drunk shouted in agitation, slamming his fist on the bar, "Don't friggin' ignore me, you grey skinneded freak. I assed you, you ever heard of that guy 'The God Slayer?' You're propably wondering why I'm assing this, well let me tell you why I'm assing you this. I think you're the God Slayer. You wanna know how I know? Cause you're ugly as fuck, just like the God Slayer!" The patron slurred.
The God Slayer remained silent, bringing his drink to his lips. Finishing it, he looked at his empty glass in admiration, "A good drink, thank you." He said, giving a nod towards the bartender, one that was returned with hesitation.
The warrior didn't return that hesitation however, slamming the glass into the patron's face with a swift brutality. The man fell to the ground with a wild scream, clutching his face gently as he rolled around on the floor. Getting up from his seat, the fighter pulled out his battle axe and walked slowly over to the waling man. Kneeling down, he raised his weapon up looking the drunk in the eye as he ended his life with a quick hack to the forehead, splitting into his skull and wedging itself into the floor, his last words being a blood-filled gurgle. Getting up, the slayer looked around the room, drawing out his sword with his remaining hand.
"Pray to your gods if you have them. For you will be visiting them soon." The slayer drawled, his voice pulling the attention of everyone else in the room towards him, their attention previously on the recently made corpse, "And when you meet them, warn them.Warn them that Desak the God Slayer and the Annihilator of Pantheons…is coming."
-x-
"So you're telling me…that you ran after that guy because he took your bag full of fruit?" Naruto asked, leaning over a bar counter as he looked over at Gal, the woman in the middle of taking a sip of whatever kind of alcohol she had ordered for the both of them.
Gal nodded, setting her drink down, "I'm not allowed out very often, but when I am I try my best to get fruit from the shopping district. There are things you can buy there you can only find galaxies away anywhere else. Fruit from Stakaar are truly delicious."
"Still…seems kinda dumb to me."
"Who are you to talk brat?" Kurama asked.
"Shut up." Naruto thought. Taking a sip of the blue drink, the blonde cringed as it slid down his throat, "This shit is strong." Naruto coughed out.
Gal smirked, "Too hard to handle?" She asked.
Naruto scoffed, "To be honest?" He asked after he stopped coughing, "I'm pretty sure this is gasoline."
"You're a lightweight, aren't you?" She laughed, finishing her drink while she was at it, "That's adorable."
"Adorable?" Naruto asked incredulously, "I am notadorable. I'm awesome…no amazing…no awe-inspiring! I put the wonder in wonderful, the excel in excellent, the…something in whatever."
"Yep," Gal said with a laugh, signaling the bartender for a refill, "adorable for sure."
Naruto couldn't help but flinch as the bartender refilled his drink, peer pressuring him into taking a sip, and then cringing as the liquid fire went down his gullet. What the hell did these people drink, seriously?
"So what is it that you do exactly that doesn't let you get out?" Naruto asked.
Gal's face was a little stoic as she spoke, "I suppose you could call it a government job. You?"
"I don't really have a job. I've pretty much been wandering around for a while now. Hung around with some space pirates though…that was pretty fun."
"Sounds like it." She sighed, "I can't remember the last adventure I had." Gal said wistfully, resting her chin on her knuckles, a slight pout on her face, "You seem like you've had some crazy adventures."
"Oh yeah." Naruto said, a thoughtful look on his face, "There was this one time I helped a princess take back her seat of power from her dick of an uncle when I was 13. Then when I was 15 I saved a priestess from a demon and his army of stone soldiers. Oh, and one time I got sent to an inescapable prison after I was framed for killing a village leader." Naruto laughed at the memory, "That was craaaazy."
Gal looked at Naruto in amusement, "You're something else." She chuckled, "Men like you are a rare thing here on Xandar." Her eyes raked over Naruto, looking him up and down, "Rare indeed."
"Rare how?" Naruto asked.
"Xandar men are rarely spontaneous. Few would have the gull to go out and fly by the seat of their pants. Things can get so dull after a while." Gal said, silently motioning for the bartender to fill Naruto's drink.
Naruto nodded at the bartender as he capped off his glass, taking a sip before saying, "All men on Xandar are like that? I kinda doubt that." Then a thought struck him, "But, then again I am one of a kind." The blonde said with a look of contemplation on his face.
"Yes…yes you are." Gal said, a strange hint to her voice as she swirled her drink around in her glass.
Naruto raised an eyebrow, taking a sip of his drink as he felt his mental faculties slip away, "Yup…that's what I said."
-x-
Saal stood in his office, typing into a holo-keyboard with gusto, his attention placed fully on the screen in front of him. Finishing his report, he leaned back into his chair and ran his hand through his hair, sighing in agitation as he did. His attention was drawn to a pop up that appeared on the screen, alerting him that he had an incoming call. Answering it, Saal came face to face with Nova Prime, Irani Rael.
"What's the word Denarian Saal?" the Nova Prime asked.
Saal leaned forward in his seat, straightening his posture to be more presentable in front of his commanding officer, "Nova Prime, I just sent you my report madam." He said, his voice the embodiment of professionalism.
"I want your report now Denarian Saal." Irani demanded.
"Of course madam, my apologize. From what Detective Krag and I could gather, Desak is searching for someone, whoever that poor bastard is we don't know. What happened at the bar seems to be an isolated incident, seeing as how he didn't say more than a few sentences while there."
Irani shifted in her seat uncomfortably, "Do you think he's still here on Xandar?"
"Possibly." Saal answered, "But we have every squad available keeping an eye out."
The Nova Prime nodded, "Tell them to report, not engage. There's no need in having anymore unnecessary bloodshed."
"Yes madam. Of course."
Irani gave a nod goodbye, "As you were, Denarian Saal." With that, the video feed cut out.
A knock on his office doorframe caused him to look up and see Millennian Rhomann Dey standing in his doorway. "What is it Millennian Dey?" Saal demanded.
Dey stepped forward, a tablet in his hands as he walked into the office, "I'm sorry sir, but we've made contact with the Stakar Ravager Clan."
"And I'm assuming The Living Bomb was put into our custody without issue?" Saal asked, not bothering to look away from his screen.
The Millennian nodded, "Of course, otherwise we'd have a Universal Threat level criminal destroying the city." When Saal gave him a sharp look he bowed his head apologetically before saying, "Due to such a high-profile bounty, one of our bureaucrats has requested to meet with them. They've requested that you attend."
Saal leaned back in his chair, sighing in agitation, "Fine, who is it?"
"The queen, sir."
"…dammit."
-x-
"Ooooh fuck." Naruto drawled out, pressing the palms of his hands into this eye sockets, trying his best to keep his throbbing skull from bursting at the seams. Judging from the strong beams of sunlight, Naruto had to guess that it was around noon, probably later. He smacked his lips, feeling as though he hadn't had a drink for day while wondering in the desert. The light streaming through his window curtains only made his headache worse, but he was too nauseas to move an inch to close said curtains. It was truly a paradox.
"Bought time you woke up kid." Kurama said, causing Naruto to flinch at the Biju's loud volume.
Rolling over onto his back, Naruto thought, "Kurama…seriously, please be quiet." Only to flinch at volume of his voice, "Dammit."
Kurama chuckled, "Do you even remember what happened after you got here?"
"No…why?" Naruto thought.
"Just give it a second." Kurama chuckled.
Naruto sighed, rolling back over to his side, closing his eyes as he began to go over the night before. He'd met Gal, they did some running and chasing, she took him out to drink, they drank, then drank, then drank…and then drank. After that they had started to…started to…
"Theeere you go."
Naruto shot up into a seated position, ignoring the fact that his skull almost exploded from the motion. Looking over, he expected to find the naked form of Gal, her killer figure hidden behind a barely form concealing blanket. Piece by truthfully awesome piece, Naruto began to remember their activities from the kissing to started it all, to the articles of clothing taken off, to the foreplay, and then finally the finale itself…six times. The memories were halted however, as his brain shut down at seeing that the space next to him was empty.
"Wha?" Naruto drawled out. Looking around, Naruto was slightly bewildered to find that Gal wasn't actually in the single bed hotel room, a room that wasn't hard to hide in considering it was a single room with the only area of privacy being a small bathroom. Getting up from the bed, Naruto slowly made his way over to the bathroom, pressing his ear against the door to see if he could hear anything on the other side. Upon hearing nothing, Naruto hesitantly opened the door, should it turn out that she used the facilities really really quietly, only to find himself disappointed when he found the small room empty.
"Looks like she ditched you brat. Sorry, she seemed pretty cool." Kurama said, though Naruto knew he probably didn't really give a shit.
Naruto robbed the back of his head, "Huh…yeah. She must've left for some reason." His attention was drawn towards door as the sound of someone knocking racked through the hotel room, "There, I bet that's her." Walking over to the door, Naruto swung it open only to find himself disappointed to find it was Tara and Martinex on the other side, "Dammit."
Tara and Martinex walked inside, the daughter of Stakar saying, "It's good to see you too Naruto." Looking around the room, Tara scrunched her nose in disgust at the clothes littered throughout the room, "Maybe you could pick up and put on your clothes so that we can go meet the bureaucrat. Chop chop." She finished by clapping her hands together twice.
"Yeah yeah." Naruto said waving his hand at the woman dismissively.
-x-
"Wow."
That was the best way to describe the room he was shown into by the Millennian escort squad. The room was massive in size, around half the size of a football field in length and as wide as the length of a basketball court. It's color scheme being gold with red and blue highlights, with the roof being held up by rows of columns that were set against the walls. In the center of the room was the Nova Corps symbol tiled into the floor, the star gleaming in the golden lighting. Set in two single file rows was a hoard of Nova Corpsman, all of whom were Denarian in rank, the two rows of men were facing the other, not moving an inch as the three Ravager Clansmen and Naruto walked towards the throne. Naruto could feel their stares, all of them waiting for either one of four to make a wrong move. Finally, the four were ordered to stop by a trio of Centurions.
The middle Centurion stepped forward, "Please join us in welcoming the Ruler of the Nova Empire and Empress of Xandar, Adora Valt."
The sound of boots stumping on tile drew Naruto's attention towards the doorway to the left. Naruto managed to count twelve Denarian soldiers surrounding a single figure in the center. Slowly the squad of twelve plus their escort made their way in front of Naruto and his three Ravager companions. Breaking apart, the men in front of the Empress split up along with the ones at her side, all of them lining up behind her single file, their hand at their sides as they waited for their ruler to speak.
The empress now in full view, Naruto was able to actually get a look at her. Her dark brown hair, nearly black it was so dark, was kept together by a decent sized gold colored crown, the nova star resting on the top of the center point. Attached to the crown was a veil, covering her face at least somewhat from view, though Naruto could tell that she had a dark skin tone, mocha in color. Wrapped around her body was an intricate gown that was a dark gold in color, with the sides of the dress being various colors of red, the skirt of the dress reaching down to the floor, dragging across the tiles as she walked. Slowly, she began to walk forward, coming closer to the four men in her debt. It was as she got closer that something dawned on him. This woman seemed familiar.
Stopping just a few feet in front of them, Adora spoke, "Captain Stakar and Tara Ogord of Arcturus, Martinex of Pluton, and Naruto Uzumaki of places unknown, welcome." She said this as she nodded her head at the four in front of her, "I feel I must give my thanks in you apprehending of Blastaar the Living Bomb. Soon he shall spend the rest of his days in the Negative Zone, there he can't hurt anyone else under my protection again."
And then it dawned on him, the realization hitting him in the face like a bag full of bricks.
"Gal?"
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