บท 246: Chapter 246
Chapter 246:
He took us to his leader…
Jean and I stood in front of the current Nova Prime of the Nova Corps. She was a stern looking older woman named Irani Rael, but asked to be referred to by her title. Also, despite her people seeming to love me, she didn't exactly look happy that I was here standing in front of her. She looked more annoyed than anything else.
"On behalf of the Nova Corps and the Nova Empire, we welcome you to Xandar." She said begrudgingly. "Why are you here? …And how did you even get here without our sensors picking up your ship?"
"Normally it's a crime to set foot on Xandar without registering your ship, but we'll obviously let someone of your good standing off with just a warning." Corpsman Dey added next to her with a grin. "I don't think our prison could hold you anyway." He added with a slightly nervous laugh.
Jean leaned in and whispered in my ear. "Does he look like the actor John C Reilly to you?" I smirked at her and nodded. He really did.
"We didn't come here on a ship." I said to them. "We came with the Bifrost."
"Bifrost?" Nova Prime asked. "I feel like I've heard that term somewhere before."
"It's the primary mode of transportation for Asgard. We used it to come here faster than flying through space." I explained.
"Oh, right. Asgard… They have an Embassy here, correct?" Nova Prime reminded herself out loud. She didn't actually seem too sure about that. "I've never actually been to the embassy myself but I hear it's nice."
"Nice? You guys knocked it down and turned it into a freaking grocery store." Jean chastised the woman. I'm pretty sure Jean was an anthropology major and therefore extra offended by the blatant cultural disrespect.
I personally found it to be pretty funny myself.
[Me too.]
"We ended up landing in the janitor's office of the grocery store. Also, he was drinking on the job." Jean decided to nark on the guy out of sheer pettiness.
[Now that's taking it a step too far! That poor man is just trying to get through his day…]
Both Nova Prime and the Corpsman blanched at Jean's words. "A grocery store…?" The Nova Prime questioned while turning to Corpsman Dey in askenstance. He simply shrugged at her. It seemed that neither of them were aware of that. They explained that must have happened before both of their times. "We deeply apologize to you and Asgard. We'll be sure to rebuild the embassy right away! You can relay that to King Odin." She assured us.
"Odin is dead, but we'll tell Queen Hela." I replied. "I'm engaged to be married to her." Neither of them seemed to know that tidbit, despite the popularity of my video circulating around.
"Oh, is that so?" The Nova Prime asked curiously. "Congratulations, your Highness! And our condolences to Queen Hela for the death of her father…" She added with mock sincerity.
"Don't feel sad for Hela. Odin was a dickhead." I said plainly. "She's never been happier."
"From everything I've heard about him, he really was!" Jean added while nodding in agreement with me. She wasn't a fan of mind control or anyone who employed it.
Corpsman Dey cracked a smile. "Yeah, I feel you. My dad was a dickhead too. He never thought I'd amount to anything just because I got arrested a few times as a teenager for smoking–."
"Corpsman Dey!" Nova Prime interrupted him. "There's no need to inform our guests about any of that." She turned to me. "The Allfather was allied tentatively with the Nova Empire for over an Eon. We have a treaty. Can we expect the same with Queen Hela? Also, might I ask how Odin passed away. He was known to be quite a powerful being."
"He was murdered in his sleep by King Laufey of the Frost Giants. Asgard is currently at war with them and the Fire Demons of Muspelheim." I said casually. In my mind, it was a foregone conclusion that Asgard and the Grigori would win.
Nova Prime cringed when I casually mentioned murder and war, but she seemed relieved that I told her the treaty was still in effect. "That's good to know. I wish Asgard a swift victory."
"Sucks to be that dude." Corpsman Dey said awkwardly. "Why don't we get to the reason why you're here on Xandar? Are you here for sightseeing, or business, or anything else?" He asked us.
"Yes, I've been informed by my superiors to aid a… hero, of your standing, in anything you need." The Nova Prime added begrudgingly. I had a feeling she wasn't exactly happy to lend her forces aid to someone she didn't know.
[The Nova Empire really must want to get on your good side in case Thanos ever attacks them.]
I agreed with the System. The people earlier claimed that Thanos is in "hiding" but I didn't buy that. I had no doubts he saw me kill a version of himself and is simply being cautious while he plots about how to kill me.
"I'd love to check out the Nova Empire sometime in the future, but I'm here on business for now. I'm currently hunting down an evil Celestial and require the proper bait to lure him to me." I explained why I was here.
"What!?" "Dear Gods!" Both of them did a spit take at my words! I had to properly assure them that I was completely serious.
"A Celestial!? Wow…you certainly don't go after small fish. Everyone has been wondering who you would go after next after you killed an interdimensional Thanos!" Corpsman Dey said enthusiastically. "You want a third to come with you? I've been trying to get a promotion and 'Celestial Slayer' would look real good on my resume!"
Nova Prime gave him the stink eye before turning back to me nervously. "A–Are you quite sure that you can actually kill a Celestial?" She asked me faintly. "If you fail and we assist you, the repercussions for the Nova Empire would be… dire."
I assured them that I could handle it, and that was without mentioning Jean was here with me. We decided not to inform them she was the Phoenix Avatar though. Earth didn't need that kind of heat circulating around the galaxy as well. I vaguely recall the Kree Empire swearing vengeance against the Phoenix Force as well for some reason.
"What about other Celestials? Are they just going to sit back and watch one of their own die?" They were both worried that the other Celestials would retaliate for the death of one of their own, but I knew that wasn't the case. Ego was planning on wiping out most life in the galaxy and replacing it with himself. No other Celestial would support that or ever allow it to happen had they known about his plans. I didn't know a lot about the giant space gods, but I knew that they were all paranoid. Paranoid enough to not allow one of their own to ever become that powerful if nothing else. They'd happily see Ego die for what he was attempting. I explained some of this to the two of them so they could forward it to the rest of the Nova Empire.
"Trying to wipe out all life in the galaxy and replace it with himself…" Nova Prime whispered in horror. "You have to stop him! Not even Thanos would stoop to such a thing!" She exclaimed in panic. "You will have the Nova Corps full support! Whatever you need to kill him, you'll have it." She assured me.
I told them that I needed Peter Quill and any round object he or his associates might have been carrying.
Corpsman Dey snorted. "That asshole? Why do you need him? He's just a scumbag bounty hunter. Ravager trash."
"We need him because he happens to be Ego's Half-Celestial son. Ego has been searching for him for years. Also, Peter might be in possession of an Infinity Stone." Jean explained for us. I'd informed her about that second part earlier.
"Half-Celestial!? That guy? We arrested that asshole this morning and tossed him and his buddies in the Kyln." Corpsman Dey explained to us.
THUMP!
Nova Prime's eyes rolled back into her head and she fainted. I didn't know if it was from her age, hearing about the Infinity Stone, or the fact they casually locked up Peter Quill after finding out his identity. I checked on her with my Purger of Darkness and found that she would be fine after some rest though.
We decided to let her rest while the Corpsman took us to the Kyln.
…
"I've never been on a spaceship before!" Jean exclaimed excitedly. We were in a Nova Corps shuttle and flying into the atmosphere towards the Kyln that was located a few lightyears away from the planet. I'd been on Tony's spaceship, but it still wasn't as cutting edge as this basic shuttle was.
I asked Corpsman Dey as he flew if I could have my own ship after this for Tony to study. He told me enthusiastically that the Corps would probably give me my own battleship after all this if I asked.
…Of course, my mind playfully drifted to images of myself controlling my own Star Destroyer…
It didn't take more than an hour of FTL travel before our shuttle reached the infamous space prison.
"Welcome to the Kyln, ladies. Home of the galaxy's greatest dickheads." He said jokingly as he piloted our shuttle towards one of the docking bays. "This is Corpsman Dey requesting permission to dock. We're carrying two VIP's on an important mission authorized by the Nova Prime herself." He said over the comms. The second part wasn't necessarily true, because she was unconscious when we left, but it was semantics at this point. She did offer us her full support.
*HSSSSSS* *STATIC*
"..."
We didn't get an immediate response from the prison. They were radio silent and all we were getting was static.
After we waited for a few minutes Jean spoke up. "Is this kind of wait normal? Is traffic control in the bathroom or something?"
"No." Dey said nervously. "They should have responded to me immediately." He flew the shuttle closer so we could get a better look. He couldn't fly too close though, or the Kyln's automated defenses would start to fire on us.
"Something is going on in the prison." I frowned while looking closer through the window. I could see lights were blinking on and off on the side of the station. Some of them looked to be damaged. I could also see what looked to be holes in the outer hull of the Kyln. They were scattered around and the holes were venting atmosphere into space. There was still no reply on the comms from the prison.
"Holy shit! Is a riot going on?" Dey asked out loud. "That's not good!"
I was starting to suspect we were a step too late here. "C'mon Jean." I told her while heading to the airlock. The two of us were going to have to fly ahead because the shuttle couldn't go any closer.
"Good luck, you two. Sorry about all the guns…" He trailed off as he pressed the button to open the airlock for us. The shuttle doors closed behind us Jean and I flew into space.
"What guns is he talking about?" Jean asked me once we were in space.
I glanced at her in surprise. She was speaking in the void of space and I could actually hear her! Was that because of Cosmic Energy? Either way, I pointed to the turrets placed all over the station. As the two of us flew closer, they all came online and locked onto us. A second later, dozens of lasers were zipping through the void at us.
"Oh crap!" Jean squeaked in fright as she started flying around evasively!
{-100 HP}
I let one of the lasers hit my arm to see how much damage space weaponry could do against a being like myself. It was actually more than I expected. Then I remembered these were anti-spaceship guns currently shooting at me. They were meant to blast through thick hulls of ships made of materials on par with vibranium.
I conjured numerous Lightspears around me and sent them hurtling forward towards the laser turrets. My spears made contact and a dozen laser turrets exploded.
"Ow, that freaking stings!" Jean whined nearby as a laser hit her in the leg. She was sent spinning wildly from the impact before stabilizing herself. The crimson aura around her became much more intense as she got serious. "Enough!" She threw her hands forward and numerous bolts of Cosmic Fire started shooting from her hands in rapid succession. All the remaining turrets were shredded in seconds. Her cosmic fire melted them like butter.
I hovered over towards Jean to check on her. Jean was rubbing her leg as we flew towards one of the station's closed hangars. She had a small red mark on her upper thigh. She was obviously a lot more durable now than she had been before, but not as durable as I was.
She thanked me when I healed the small burn on her leg for her. "Healing is so useful, I need to learn how to do it myself."
The hangar doors were sealed tight, the whole prison seemed to be on lockdown.
"How do we get in?" Jean asked me. I think she forgot that I still couldn't answer her in space. Not until I got access to cosmic energy myself at least.
We were going to have to rip the doors off to get inside. I signaled for her to move backwards a bit while I manifested my Rinnegan. A pair of large purple skeletal arms appeared on both sides of me and started to pry the hangar blast doors open. With how powerful I was now, it was easy enough to get them open. The alien metal locks broke apart easily enough for me.
Corpsman Dey pulled the shuttle into the hangar a moment later and exited wearing a slim spacesuit. Jean and I followed him over to an airlock that led farther into the station. He pressed some commands on a keypad and we entered inside.
"Death to the Nova Corps!"
"Freedom!"
"I want fresh meat!"
There was a full blown riot currently occurring inside the prison. It was about what I'd expected from the movie, except a lot worse. This was a prison for the galaxy's worst criminals after all. Corpses of guards and inmates littered the corridor we found ourselves in. Further down, we could hear the sounds of further violence.
"Well, shit…" I said while glancing around. We had obviously arrived during or after the prison escape. I doubted that Peter or the Infinity Stone were still here on the Kyln.
[They could already be on their way to Knowhere to sell the Infinity Stone to the collector.]
"This is horrible!" Jean exclaimed while glancing at all the bodies. She turned to me. "Some of the guards are still alive! They're making a last stand just up ahead! We have to help them!" Her aura surrounded her and she sped off down the hall without waiting for me. She was still a hero after all.
"Try not to get shot." I told Corpsman Dey as I flew off down the hall after Jean.
"Die, you fuckers! Die!"
"Death to the Corps!"
We arrived just in time to find 5 Nova Corps prison guards making their final stand against overwhelming numbers. Dozens of inmates had somehow acquired guns and had the Corps members pinned down under heavy fire.
"All of you are under arrest!" Jean yelled out as she charged in. She started blasting all the armed prisoners with fire and telekinesis.
"Who the hell is this bitch!?"
"Fuck you, fire girl! I'm not going back to my cell!"
Jean started battling against numerous different alien races, and I didn't recognize most of them by name. She was easily thrashing them all though. Their weapons weren't doing any damage to her.
A Lightspear formed in my hand and I charged into the fight as well. A large alien that looked like a yellow gorilla charged at me with a spiked club. I easily parried his giant weapon to the side.
"That's impossible! You're so small!" He cried out while trying to take another swing at me.
"Size isn't everything." I smirked while I blocked another attack. I knocked the large weapon out of his hands and stabbed forward with my spear. He collapsed to the ground dead after I put a burning hole in his torso. Unlike Jean, I wasn't really interested in sparring most of the prisoners here. These were some of the worst beings the galaxy had to offer and they had already killed most of the guards.
A few other aliens took some shots at me from up in the rafters. I flapped my wings and easily reached their level.
"Oh shit! She won't die!"
The lasers bounced off my skin harmless as I swung my spear and decapitated three more criminals. I flew around for the next 30 seconds putting down everyone who chose to attack me or Jean.
A bug looking alien flew in the air behind Jean. Its alien mind was to foreign for her to sense the sneak attack. It raised its acidic pincers towards the back of her neck. I hurled my spear and sniped it out of the air. It let out a disgusting gurgling noise as it died.
"Thanks…" Jean said with a forced smile. I could tell she wasn't used to this level of violence yet.
When the prison block was all clear, Corpsman Dey tentatively came out of hiding. "Holy crap! That was crazy! Dozens of the most dangerous dudes I've ever heard of were nothing for you two! Good work!"
"Thank you for saving the Kyln and preventing a mass escape." One of the 5 surviving guards tentatively approached us. He seemed to recognize Dey and breathed a sigh of relief.
"What the fuck happened here?" Dey asked crassly. "There's only 5 of you left? There were hundreds of guards here!"
The guard cringed. "That stupid raccoon started a riot and escaped with some other prisoners! In the process, every single inmate tried to escape and they started killing everyone in sight. All my friends are dead." He said while on the verge of tears.
[Rocket is kind of an asshole…]
"I'm sorry to hear about that. Did the Raccoon or his friends mention where they were going?" I asked. I didn't make the offer to revive anyone. I might need it later and was saving it exclusively for Jean…just in case. She was family after all.
"I think they mentioned something about Knowhere?" He confirmed what I already knew. That meant we were one step behind the 'Guardians of the Galaxy.' They were already on the way to sell the power stone to the collectors. I knew it wouldn't work out for them, but I couldn't 100% trust canon. If Peter ended up dead or he lost the stone to someone I don't know, then Jean and I would be screwed.
"Knowhere?" Dey asked the guard for confirmation and grimaced. He turned to me and apologized. "Sorry. My shuttle can't go that far. I would have taken us on another ship if I knew this could happen."
I told him that it was fine. Part of this was my fault. I hadn't expected them to escape the prison so quickly. It was only a few hours ago that Heimdall told me Peter was on Xandar. They escaped much faster than they did in the movie.
"Dang it. Where are we going to get another ship?" As Jean asked that, I felt a shadow fall over us.
I looked up and my eyes widened. Through the prison windows, I could see that a giant Kree battleship had just pulled up next to the station.
"Well, that's convenient…" I said with a smirk.
XXX
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