//------------------------------// // Chapter 149 – Come and Get Your Stone // Story: Infinity Era // by JDPrime22 //------------------------------// 149 Andromeda Galaxy Morag Year: 2014 The soft and purring voice of Lolly Vegas filled the Temple of the Power Stone, but only through the ears of Peter Quill. The legendary voice of the legendary singer came out through the legendary outlaw and echoed throughout the deep, dark, and towering walls of the decimated temple grounds. And he danced. Star-Lord danced the fear, the uncertainty, and general unsettling atmosphere of the abandoned temple away with his smooth moves. The Sony Walkman dangled from his hip as he thrust back and forth, side to side, and skipped in tune with the beat and vocals of “Come and Get Your Love”. Nearby Orloni fled from his swift approach, others charging or caught in his line of sight as Star-Lord reared back with each dancing kick and sent the alien critters flying across the ruins. The water splashed upwardly from his kicks. He even grabbed one of the creatures. It pounced at him from a nearby rock, Star-Lord snatching the Orloni by the neck and singing right into its head, as if it was some crude microphone. He spun around and sang away, spinning and spinning and spinning. He only stopped when he slowed down, when he felt dizzy, but kept on dancing anyway. His favorite line was coming up, and he never missed a beat before. Couldn’t start now. With Orloni in hand, Star-Lord strutted definitively across the rock and ruin of the temple and sang proudly, “Come and get your love~!” He threw the creature aside after that, spinning madly and singing once more, “Come and get your love~!” His voice echoed in the darkness and shattered walls of the temple, and there was no music to join him. All that he heard flowed from his Walkman and exited his headphones, purely for his own listening pleasure. The others watching him from a short distance only heard his voice, saw his ridiculous dance moves, and slowly turned to one another. Specifically, to Nebula. “You didn’t tell us he was an idiot,” James muttered “I thought it was obvious,” Nebula whispered back. “I like his dance moves!” Derpy whispered while bouncing her shoulders in tune with Quill’s movements. Looking to Nebula, Derpy exclaimed, “You never told us Peter was such an awesome dancer!” While Nebula shushed the Pegasus, Rhodes acknowledged his team while Quill continued to make a fool of himself in the background. Starlight, Derpy, and Maud sat quietly behind the rock pillar they hid behind, Starlight’s hooves pressed against the rock as she, Maud, and Derpy’s head peeked upwards from cover. Robbie Reyes and Nebula were kneeling alongside Rhodes behind the mares, hidden behind shattered stone and other pillars erected from the earth. With everyone accounted for, James turned back to Quill to see him thrusting at the air. He cringed, sighing with a shake of his head. “Gonna need to distract him.” “I got it,” Robbie said, beginning to stand only to be stopped by James’ metal palm gripping his arm. Robbie sent an agitated glare, first to James’ hand and then to the man himself. “Whoa, whoa,” James whispered. “We need him distracted. Not dead.” Reyes sneered at that. “What makes you think I’m gonna kill him?” “No offense, but you’re not exactly subtle,” Maud piped up on Robbie’s right. The group turned to Maud Pie on that exclamation, seeing Reyes’ expression devolve further and further into deeper agitation. Thankfully, he had managed to work on his anger in the past five years. They really didn’t need a Spirit of Vengeance wreaking havoc in their current situation. Keeping his boiling blood down with some immense willpower, Reyes raised a finger to the Earth pony and declared, “Oh, and you’re supposed to be more subtle than me? Coming from a pony that crushes whatever she steps on? I wouldn’t be surprised if those hooves were made of rock!” “I wouldn’t either,” Maud droned, staring at her hoof instead of Robbie, the thought of it being made of rock being much more interesting than the one who had put the thought in her head. It wasn’t the end of the argument. Not by a long shot. Starlight groaned and rolled her eyes, igniting her horn and teleporting away. While their argument escalated quietly behind the rocks and shattered pillars, Peter Quill slid across the rock slick with mud and water with a stupid grin knitted on his face. All it took was a flash of light behind him to earn the outlaw’s attention, Quill sliding to a dead stop and furrowing his brow. His smile slackened, Star-Lord spinning around to confront the source of the pulse of light. Starlight forced a wide and toothy grin and waved exuberantly. Peter stared at her, his expression tightening as the confusing seconds only seemed to pile on and on. Not only was there company inside the temple where there hadn’t been the last time he checked, but it was a small, colorful unicorn. And it smiled at him. And it waved, too. Quill blinked, his brow furrowing as he stood frozen in that moment. His jaw was unable to close. His mind was unable process what he was seeing. His eyes looked nowhere else but to the unicorn, and definitely not seeing James’ forearm. “Wha—?” It was all he could get out before the arm flooded his vision. The metal of the War Machine impacting Peter’s skull made a dull thud, followed by a soft ring. Peter’s expression quickly softened as his head reared back from the strike, his eyes rolling into the back of his head. His body collapsed shortly after and lay unmoving upon the mud. Cringing slightly at the impact, Starlight looked back up to Rhodes. “Nice distraction,” James said, nodding to her. Starlight smirked to the remaining Avengers stepping out from behind the rocks. With the past Star-Lord knocked out quick and clean, the Avengers surrounded him and watched Nebula work. She dug into Quill’s bag, revealing a long pick. She sneered at it, rising forth with the lock-pick in hand. “The tool of a thief,” Nebula murmured. The others remained silent, watching the Luphomoid lead them to their next destination. Seeing as she had the most knowledge on their location, they wouldn’t dare take a step outside of her path. She led them to a set of massive stone doors, an alien lock mechanism planted on the face of the doors. Implanting the lock-pick carefully, Nebula gave the device a soft turn and let the rest follow through. The stone twisted and turned, the doors breaking apart and a plenitude of ancient dust raining from their inward separation. Within the innards of the temple, nothing but darkness filled the seemingly-empty room. The only source of light radiated from the capsule containing their prize. James raised his right palm, the repulsor light brightening their line of sight. The Orb hovered within its shimmering containment. The Power Stone awaited their arrival. Nebula took the first step. “Whoa, wait up!” Rhodes exclaimed, left arm held out in front Nebula. The Guardian turned to the Avenger quizzically, seeing him turn his palm to the walls on their left and right. “This is usually the part where the spikes come out of the walls with skeletons impaled on them! Temple’s gonna start throwing some booby traps at us if we don’t take this slow!” “What are you talking about?” Nebula asked, incredulous. Derpy giggled. “Hee hee! You said ‘traps’!” “I’m telling you, every single temple’s gotta have traps set off when we step inside—” James was saying. Maud blindly entered, her soft and subtle hoofsteps echoing across the floor and hitting the rock walls. Nebula was right behind her. James just titled his head, sighing and holding out his hand to them. “Oh, okay. You know, just go on ahead. I warned you.” Robbie shook his head, mumbling, “Ay, Dios mío.” He followed shortly after Maud and Nebula, ultimately leading the remaining three Avengers behind him into the depths of the temple. There was honestly nothing too spectacular within the treasure vault. Dark walls with intricate designs sketched and telling tales of woe and disaster and other prophesies long forgotten. The majority of their attention was focused ahead, to the imprisonment of the Power Stone. Nebula and Maud led the Avengers towards the main source of light within the blackness, with Rhodes, Robbie, and Derpy following shortly behind them, cautious breaths staining the thick air. It was only Starlight who turned away momentarily, her eyes somehow drawn to the left wall. Starlight’s eyes widened, her breath tightening and chest expanding when she saw it. All she could do was breathe, and that breath escaped her as an astounded: “Oh, wow…” Murals of Death, Eternity, Entropy, and Infinity decorated the wall to their left. The four beings seemed to be swirling around an object of their creations. Or, objects, in their case. What they surrounded, Starlight instantly recognized. Each gem was colored specifically and without wrongful designation. The bright blue, yellow, green, orange, red, and purple of all six Infinity Stones. Though Starlight knew not of the eternal beings surrounding their creations, she noted the Infinity Stones and shivered under the glare of their mural all the same. Reyes’ footsteps brought the unicorn’s attention back to what mattered most. Robbie stepped forward to the Orb and the energy cage that contained it, only to yield to Nebula’s arm extended across his chest. He noted it, turning to the Luphomoid to see her take those steps forward herself. First, she removed her GPS from her left hand. Then, to his and everyone else’s surprise, she merely jammed that hand and arm directly into the streams of energy protecting the Orb. It burned her arm until her metallic bones began to show, the red-hot fingers gripping the Orb and yanking it free from its cell. The energy burned and shredded her metallic arm, but Nebula didn’t even flinch. There was no feeling left to experience or pain to expel in her limb, and as she analyzed the Orb in her palm, she handed it off to James behind her. She blew softly on her left hand, the cinders softly cooling in the damp atmosphere. As she was placing the GPS back onto her palm once it had cooled considerably, the uneasy silence in the vault finally reached her. Noticing the uncertain stares from her fellow Avengers, she let her hand fall and rest by her side. “I wasn’t always like this. Broken.” Rhodes let those words pierce him like no one else in their group could experience. At least, not on a personal or physical level. A sudden wave of cold dread filled his stomach when the memory flushed through his mind and reminded him of dropping like a rock and impacting the earth at speeds that could have killed him. That should have killed him. The exoskeleton strapped around his legs and spine somehow felt colder than the growing pit in his gut, but Rhodes shook it off. Somehow, he did. “Me neither,” James admitted, gripping the Orb tighter. “But we make do with what we got.” Maud laid her hoof softly on Nebula’s leg. Turning down to her, Nebula saw the deadpan expression rest on Maud’s face. Yet the hoof she offered her was soft. Warm. Comforting. It was enough for Nebula to breathe properly again, find that right state of mind to respond with a weak nod. “Yeah,” she muttered, raising her left hand. The others followed suit. “All right,” Starlight began after taking a seat and raising both hooves. She looked around to each Avenger. “We ready to go home?” Robbie, Maud, and Derpy nodded. “Ready,” they all exclaimed. Starlight turned to Rhodes, seeing him nod with his mask closing over his face. “Ready,” his voice growled from the mask of the War Machine. His left hand gripped the Orb, while his right hovered over the Time Travel GPS. Finally, she turned to Nebula, seeing the Luphomoid stare fiercely into the unicorn’s eyes. “Ready,” Nebula hissed. Starlight nodded back to everyone. “On three…” Everyone looked down to their GPSes, left hands and hooves at the ready. Praying their journey would bring them home, Starlight whispered aloud, “One…” Rhodes gripped onto the Orb for dear life. Starlight’s hoof rose higher. “Two—” Nebula flinched and hunched forward, a painful gasp and cry escaping her mouth as she practically collapsed to the rock beneath her. Her team turned away from their GPSes and focused only on her, swarming their fellow Avenger with concern and care riddled in their expressions. All they could see on Nebula’s was agony, the flushing pain washing over her facial features as her eye flickered bright again and again. Her forehead sparked, the machinations within short-circuiting as an external network tried to break into her once more. That time, however, it succeeded and would not leave. It stayed. It infested. It tore through her mind and took all it could. Her memories, her mission, her location… All of it unveiled outside of her realm of control. Her sight was not her own any longer. The world she saw was coated in a familiar and wretched blackness she wished never to see again. In that blur of blackness, figures standing in golden armor gazed to her. One in particular rose higher than the others in the room, the heated eyes slowly narrowing and the growing creases on his violet skin scrunching in mixtures of curiosity… and fury. Then, he smiled. Nebula felt her mechanical heart freeze. “Nebula!” She slammed her hand into the side of her head, the Luphomoid screaming at her own action. Her own voice came back to her, followed by the voice from her team. They came back once the invasive wave of pain finally subsided. Her team came back to her, all of them kneeling or standing before her with concern riddled in their gazes. All of it offered to her. She could hardly confront them, her mind reeling on the images she was forced to witness. Her chest rose and fell sporadically with her quickened, fearful breaths. Eyes wide, terrified, to what she had seen. “Nebula, can you hear us?” Starlight exclaimed, hooves gripping Nebula’s shoulders and shaking her softly back into the realm of reality. “Are you okay? What was that? What happened?” “W-we…” Nebula stuttered, unable to find the right voice she so desperately needed at that very moment. At that very millisecond. Digging deep into the waning strength within her, she managed to cry, “We need… We need to—!” She tried to warn them. Even she wasn’t fast enough when the horn above the Temple of the Power Stone cried out and filled the air with its haunting, reverberating howl. Slowly, everyone shifted their attention to the ceiling. Everyone titled their heads skywards as that horn settled in the atmosphere and lingered. Its echoes hit every wall in the temple until the cry slowly faded. And they were able to hear Nebula whisper, “… No.” The first blast shook the entire earth. The second destroyed the ceiling and sent a vast array of stone and pillar crumbling into the inner temple. Every Avenger either trembled where they stood or fell flat onto the rocky floor. The light from Rhodes’ palm was extinguished as he fell flat on his chest and released the Orb, dousing the Avengers in utter darkness save for the spilling of light outside the vault. Robbie growled and lifted his flame-filled eyes, spotting the silver orb rolling around amongst the continuous tremors filling the temple. Even with the constant, earth-shattering explosions consuming the vault, he scrambled to his feet and made a daring grab for the Orb. A stream of bright blue light impacted the entrance to the vault and blew apart the ground surrounding it. Reyes was sent flying backwards, striking the end of the vault with such ferocity that any normal man would have been killed upon impact. He lay unmoving as he finally hit the stone floor and a pillar of rock and dust fell on top of him. “Robbie!” Starlight cried, hoof outstretched in a weak attempt to reach her fellow Avenger. Her feeble effort would not have mattered anyway, the constant tremors nearly sending the unicorn flat on her chest. Her hooves struggled to keep her standing, the unicorn’s legs splayed outwards as she turned wildly back, forth, and spun around to do a thousand things a once. She tried to find her team. She tired to see where the Orb had disappeared to. She tried to understand what was happening. She tried to survive. So many things happened at once that even Starlight couldn’t handle all of it. At one point, she watched as Maud and Derpy fled together out of the vault and into the rest of the temple. She tried to call to them, but her voice was drowned out by the shattering eruptions consuming the earth and temple around her. The crumbling ceiling caused her to enact one last act of defense. Her horn ignited, the unicorn sliding over and creating a vast, protective shield above herself, Rhodes, and Nebula. A second later, the ceiling fell and consumed them under mounds of dirt, rock, and dust. The temple outside the vault continued to fall and crumble under its own weight and the ferocity impacting it from above. The streams of light that fell from the sky tore through the ceiling and destroyed anything in their path. Maud and Derpy stumbled, rushed, and flew outwards into the daring open, each mare seemingly thinking the same thing at that very moment. Their eyes landed on Peter Quill’s unconscious form lying in the mud and water. Around him, the constant explosions and blasts reverberated and filled the temple until more and more chunks of earth and rock fell and landed around him. And then, a piece of the ceiling fell and its shadow covered Quill’s body. Derpy gasped. Maud frowned. Her speeds were unrivaled in what followed. She galloped with rejuvenated strength and energy that Derpy had never seen, the Earth pony dodging and weaving intricately between and past the falling rocks and energy blasts that impacted the temple floors. Just as the ceiling was about to crush Quill beneath it, Maud leaped from a crashed pillar of rock and soared through the air, the added push she gave herself inflicting even more damage against the rock she punched. Derpy’s jaw fell as she saw Maud simply punch the rock and knock it out of the way. It crashed mere feet behind Peter’s body, the pony finally landing and skidding beside Quill. Maud’s frown never left her as the world around the mare continued to crumble and fall, the cross-eyed Pegasus finally joining her after a moment of shock from her end. The two only had a short moment to gaze to the collapsing ceiling. It was just a short moment for Derpy to do the first thing that came to mind. She fell right on top of Quill and shielded him with her own body, eyes shut tight. Maud rose up on her hind legs, forelegs splayed upwards and eyes glaring to the falling ceiling. Everything collapsed. The energy blasts raining from the thickened clouds above continued to fall and pelt the Temple of the Power Stone until dust and fire consumed the outer ground and inner depths. The sprawling walls and towering pillars were the last to fall as the final blasts fell and consumed what remained in a resonating shock wave. Dust shot up and outwards from the final explosion. Until, finally, all was still and quiet. The dust rose and filled the atmosphere above ground. Even then, it wasn’t enough to consume the red lights from spewing forth from the clouds. It wasn’t enough to keep Sanctuary II concealed. The mighty warship broke through the clouds and smoke and hovered near the remains of the ancient civilization. The bombardment caused the entire temple to collapse, a resonating horn sounding off to signify the ship’s overwhelming presence. When the dust and fire settled and every stone had finally fallen, the survivors stirred under the rubble. First, it was Starlight Glimmer. Had it not been for her horn burning a bright aquamarine, she and the two Avengers with her would have been concealed under the pressuring weight of both darkness and rock. The pressure was still quite overwhelming, the unicorn looking to both Rhodes and Nebula to see if they were okay. The red eyes from James’ War Machine came back to her, gazing to the unicorn with what could have been thankfulness beneath the mask. Nebula, too, stared to Starlight with that expression of shock, awe, and gratitude. There was nothing but shock left when Starlight bent low, shot up her head, and screamed. The blast that followed from her horn was so powerful that it sent a shock wave of magic directly to the rubble above them, sending the rock and rubble skyrocketing. As the smaller rocks and pebbles made their descent into the remains of the temple, a large circle was formed around the three Avengers. A clearing within the ruin. Starlight stood shakily as her horn dimmed and she stared to the rising War Machine and Nebula. Together, they stood within a crevice of rock and pillar circled around them, smaller fragments of what once was slowly rolling down and filling the hole they were in. That was about when James realized he had lost the Orb. He turned to his left hand, spun around to analyze the ground around him, and still saw nothing. His HUD began to scan frantically within the rubble, Rhodes muttering in rapid succession, “Oh, no, no, no, no, no! The Orb! Guys! Girls! Anyone have an eye on where the Stone went?!” He grew louder and louder with each expression of denial, the bulking suit of armor ripping and tearing through the rubble. He pushed and pulled over rocks, lifted and tossed ancient pillars, and scanned quickly for the correct size and shape of the Orb. Soon enough, he was joined by both Nebula and Starlight, all three of them crawling, digging, and searching through the remains of the temple for the Infinity Stone. Further across the devastation, a massive stone slowly began to rise. Dust and pebbles and other remains fell from its surface as it broke through and hovered above the earth. A shattering punch rippled beneath it, cracking the stone in half and the two chunks of ceiling falling and resting to the sides of the one and only Maud Pie. She fell down from her hind legs and rested on all four hooves, a single stream of sweat having built on her forehead. She wiped it away with just a flick of her hoof, the same deadpan expression unwavering. Turning that expression downwards, she looked back to see both Derpy and Peter safe and sound. Filthy with dust and dirt and mud, but breathing. Still alive. Tapping Derpy’s back, Maud stepped aside as the Pegasus jerked upwards, a startled gasp leaving her. Fully alert, Derpy quickly analyzed her surroundings, muttering, “W-we’re alive? We made it?” Maud nodded. Her eyes, her expression, fell lower to the unconscious form beneath her. Derpy followed her, gasping as she tried desperately to push Quill onto his back. Though with a slight struggle, Derpy finally managed to roll him over. Her wings beat furiously as Maud stepped in and helped her, the two mares staring to the filthy and blank expression from the Peter Quill that didn’t know them. The Peter Quill that wasn’t their friend. That didn’t deter Derpy in the slightest. She gripped his cheeks with her hooves and shook him, cried to him, called again and again just to get some form of a response to assure herself he was alive. That her friend was still alive. She wasn’t thinking on the grander scheme, or what would happen when he saw her, she just wanted to know he was safe. As her hooves finally settled, she found that assurance. Derpy let him go and leaned back when Quill’s eyes fluttered open. She ensured that the first thing he saw was a friendly face, or two. Or, perhaps only one, considering Maud’s expression shared hardly any form of kindness, or security. Derpy, nonetheless, offered her best and sweetest smile when Peter’s eyes slowly turned to her. A smile that deteriorated rapidly when Quill shoved her aside and scrambled to his feet. He rolled as he did so, whipping out his Quad Blaster and pointing the barrel dangerously towards the two mares. Derpy stared at him with hurt in her eyes, that hurt quickly transforming to fear to see the end of his baster pointed at her. Maud didn’t even flinch, merely stepping aside and gazing his way. “All right…” Star-Lord growled, his free hand held out in a cautioning manner to the two alien horses. “Okay… no sudden moves. Stay right where you are… and you don’t get a hole between the…” His expression broke slightly when he saw the Pegasus’ gaze, each pupil shooting off in a different direction but still somehow focused on him. It was odd. It was so odd that it froze Quill only momentarily. “Eyes,” he finished with a slight whisper. Derpy held out one of her hooves, ignoring Star-Lord’s threat and called, “Peter…” She—whatever she was—knew his Terran name. It caught not only his throat, but his heart, as well. He was unable to speak, unable to understand, and unable to properly think of how to respond. In the end, he did what he did best: He ran. “No, Peter, wait!” Derpy called, flying awkwardly after him. Maud was slower, but trailed the duo nonetheless. As for Quill, he stumbled over the ruins of the shattered temple, having only recalled the entire structure to be somewhat stable the last moments of consciousness he had. Next thing he knew, he was laying in the remains of an ancient civilization with two alien horses waking him up. Not the weirdest place he’d woken up in, but it was up there. He ran for it to make a hasty retreat back to his ship. He jumped and slid and made his way carefully between and over the remains of the temple walls and pillars that filled the grounds. Every now and again, he would cast a quick glance behind him to still see that same Pegasus flying after him, constantly calling to him with the name he gave no one else but the scum that stole him from home. That alone terrified him more than it should have, but Peter didn’t care. He ran. He ran right out of the ancient doors of the temple and stumbled into the rest of the outside world. And Quill slid to a terrifying halt, eyes glazed over as they shot skywards and locked with the red lights glaring down upon the earth. Through the dust, clouds, and storm, he saw Thanos’ Sanctuary II hovering menacingly above the world. Definitely not how he expected his Monday to go. “Ah, shitballs,” Quill groaned. A black and gloved-fist punched its way out of the gravel and stone. That fist remained erected until it clawed at the very rock that kept the rest of it concealed. Arising from the ruin, the flames licked the white and red skull as it rose amongst the chaos and devastation that remained of Thanos’ attack. The pulsating, hellish orange eyes erupted into a forever cinder, a low growl emanating from deep within the skull’s throat and spirit. And that Spirit, that demon of vengeance lifted its eyes to the sky. It growled, louder and more animalistic as it fought, clawed, and punched its way out of the rock and pillars that had crushed it. When the dust burned and faded from its body, all that was left was the demon. Just the Ghost Rider. Just the lone Spirit of Vengeance standing against the army of the Mad Titan released onto Morag.