Chapter 11
"Surrender yourselves to the Sovereign and we will allow everyone else to walk away with no harm."
"So just me, Udonta, Obfonteri, Tullk, Oblo, and the Guardians?"
"Yes."
"Hm. How about... Fuck you?" I disarm him and level his blaster on him. "Now I have a blaster." He pulls out another one and I nod. "Gonna be honest, was not expecting that. But, here's the thing..." I quickly blast the three Sovereign behind him in the legs and they crumple to the ground with a yell.
Vai blasts me in my left shoulder and I drop my arm, growling in the back of my throat. "You are now down an arm. Any more tricks or are you going to surrender yourselves?"
"How's this?" I throw the blaster at his head and he ducks before getting kicked in the face, falling to the ground unconscious. "Sleep tight." I turn to see the others had dealt with those Sovereign and nod. "Sweet. We should probably get your brother."
"That might be a good idea." We head over to the booth and I pull Thor up, supporting him while I wait for my shoulder to heal.
"How's the wing?" Sam asks and I look at him.
"It got a hole blasted through it. How do you think it is?"
"OK. How are you gonna get back at them?"
"Will you just go away, Wilson?"
"Fine." He walks away and I help Thor back to Pepper's ship, dropping him on his bedroll that Pepper directs me to.
"Y'know, Kid, seems like tha' guy, Wilson, is tryin' ta do summin' but yer bein' an ass," Kraglin says simply as we get off of the ship while Pepper and the other Avengers board it, except for Sam and Zemo who were talking to Sarah and the boys. "Wha' 'e do?"
"What is the one reason I will relent in a fight?" I ask as I face him better, turning my back on Sam.
"Wha'?"
"Answer the question."
"Cuz yer losin' control ta... Feral?"
"Yeah. And if the person I'm fighting against punches me in the face after I relent, how would one expect me to react when I barely have control?"
"So tha's why yer actin' like tha' ta 'im?"
"Yeah."
"I thought you had control of Feral, though," Morgan says and I look at him.
"No. Feral is the one that still gives me issues. Y'know how I'll just disappear sometimes after I get into an argument with Tony or Steve?"
"Yeah. That's you trying to regain control?"
"Yeah. Cuz Feral is the definition of... Fuck around and find out. Feral gives zero shits and will wreck you in point two five seconds with no remorse. Despite how I've been acting to that dumbass, I do care about him."
"And Zemo?"
"Zemo is... Ugh, Zemo. He's like that annoying sibling that will stand outside of your room and say that they're not in your room when they tell you to get out. While they eat the last cookie or whatever someone made. In front of you and not care."
"That didn't answer my question."
"I know it didn't, Morgan. How do I put this?" I pinch the bridge of my nose slightly and think for a moment. "OK... I am the only one allowed to threaten to kill Zemo or cause him any harm. If anyone else does, I will cause them harm. Unless it's Bucky. Because he also has that right."
"So you do care about us. I knew you did," Zemo says, smirk obvious in his voice, and I glare at Morgan, who just smiles innocently.
"I'm gonna murder you."
"No, you aren't. You can try, though. Oh, also, Mr. Quill, I have a question."
"What's that? And you don't have to call me that."
"OK. Any-"
"No, you're gonna wait to ask that. We're going on a trip. Tullk, you're in charge. Don't let them kill each other."
"A'ight, Cap." I nod and easily tug Morgan and Indri after me.
"Hey!"
"Oh, shut up. You'll be fine. You guys coming? I have something to show you all!" They follow after a moment and I lead the way to the hangar.
"Did you make it smaller?"
"Sorta, yeah. I made it bigger than cut off a section for just my M-ships. That was one of the first things that I did. I had to. I didn't trust anyone else to fix those M-ships and for good reason." I go over to my section and put in the code, allowing the door to open. "Welcome to my favorite place on this ship."
"Is this...?"
"Yup. All of your M-ships. Your main ships I gave to some of the Avengers, but only the ones I trust to be competent with them. Steve, Rhodey, Pepper, Nat, MJ, and T'Challa. I'll see if they'll move to my old ship, though, because the current plan is to have them all be on a crew on Pepper's ship, your's Aleta. They'd understand and will work with it. But, yeah. I did add a few things to them..."
"Like what? And where's mine? Where's the Milano?"
"I'll show you. PIXEL, pull up the Milano."
"Right away." She pulls it up on my wrist com and I press a button, the ship on the end shimmering to reveal the Milano.
"How?"
"I gave the ships a way to have the exterior modified. I got it from Carol, Captain Marvel. She worked with a Kree who wasn't an asshole, absorbed some of the Tesseract's power, lost her memories, and was a Kree warrior for... Six annual cycles, I believe. Once she got her memories back, though, she fought for Terra and just, like, full-on destroyed some of Ronan's buddies. She let me copy some of the technology and... Yeah. It's helped get away from Novas, Sovereign, Kree Radicals. Those assholes are still getting orders from somebody. I thought I destroyed all of the royalty there... I've gotta figure that out soon."
"The Kree don't have royalty. They have the Supreme Intelligence. It's an AI."
"I'm sorry, what?"
"Yeah. It takes the form of whoever you admire the most, right?" Stakar nods and I nod slowly. "Are you OK?"
"I've just been told that everything I did on Hala after you, Gamora, and Jay were killed was useless in destroying the Kree. Yeah, yeah... I'm great... Anyway! I'll worry about that later, I guess!"
"Is this where we were going?"
"Yes, Morgan. This is where we were going."
"Good. Can I ask the question now?"
"Yes."
"Good. What can I call you?"
"Peter works."
"Yeah, but, my adopted brother is named Peter and..."
"Star-Lord?"
"Sure. Let's go with that for right now. Star-Lord, Gamora, can I marry your daughter?" The hangar goes silent at the balls on him and he just stares at them calmly.
"I'm sorry, what?"
"Can I have your permission to marry Indri? But, you should know, I'll still ask her even if you say no because it's ultimately her decision. How does that song go?"
"Why are you looking at me? I don't know every song to ever exist, Morgan!"
"Seriously, Rogue? You expect me to believe that?"
"Which song?"
"That one by MAGIC! about marriage?"
"Rude?"
"Yeah, that one!"
"Um... Knocked on your door with heart in my hand, To ask you a question, cuz I know that you're an old-fashioned man. Can I have your daughter for the rest of my life?"
"See?"
"I will stab you."
"OK. So? Can I have permission to marry Indri?"
"No...?"
"OK. Can you stay here for a second, Indri?"
"Sure...?"
"Thanks." He goes to his Quarters in this section of the hangar and I shrug slightly when they look at me.
"He built them himself and I didn't have to help him with anything. Plus, it's just an old storage closet. Oh, hey, look. He's back." I grab a chair and straddle in backward, watching the show that's about to unfold.
"Here."
"You made me popcorn?"
"Yes."
"This is gonna be good. Popcorn, Loki?" They laugh but take some and the others look at me like I'm insane. "Hey, no. No judging. Let me have this. OK? Thank you." I eat a few pieces of popcorn and Morgan rolls his eyes.
"Can I do my thing now?"
"Feel free. Your Dad's gonna be pissed. This'll be great."
"You have issues. But, whatever. Indri Solymus Quill," He gets on one knee and opens a ring box. "Will you marry me?"
"Weak!" I throw two pieces of popcorn at him and he glares at me with glowing eyes.
"Shut up, Rogue!" They say together and I smile.
"You're both so adorable. It's disgusting."
"Get out."
"It's my ship so no. Are you gonna answer?"
"Rogue's right... That was kinda weak, Mor..."
"Don't agree with them. They're being stupid."
"Hey! It's true, but still! Rude!" I throw more popcorn at them and they roll their eyes. Krugarr opens a portal between my hands and makes my popcorn disappear. "Dude! My popcorn! Man..."
Someone slaps a gag over my mouth and everyone else freezes. I easily rip the gag off with my left hand, breaking it to pieces, and turn to look at Sam with glowing eyes, skin, and floating hair.
"HEY! How about we do not try to kill Sam tonight?" Morgan says as he and Indri get between us and both of them hold their hands up slightly to try to calm me down. "Because murder is still illegal! Like, a lot! One of the worst crimes! Remember? Yeah?" I glare at them and they don't move, still trying to get me to calm down. "Remember? Killing and murder are bad! You gotta clean up the blood and stuff! And you have to clean your arm! That's no fun! Yeah?"
I shove them out of my way and they nod a bit. "OK, we tried. Sam, run."
"That's a great idea." He bolts and doesn't get very far before he's caught by a gust of wind. I snatch him out of the air and slam him against the wall by his throat, leaving a dent while he's left breathless. I pin him tighter against the wall and he croaks slightly, feet being lifted off the ground slightly as I swing my right fist at him.
"Kid, we've been over this," Bucky sighs as he catches my fist and looks at Sam. "Morgan, what'd he do now?"
"He was an idiot! Like always!"
"How?"
"He put a gag on Rogue."
"Wow. You are seriously trying to end your life, ain't ya?" He asks Sam, who just croaks, and he looks at me. "Kid. Put him down." I growl and press him further into the wall. "No. Bad." He sprays me with water and that snaps me out of it slightly. "Drop him." I glare at him and he sprays me in the face again, twice. I drop him and smack the spray bottle out of Bucky's hand. "Good. Treat?"
"Shut up."
"OK. So I kinda got to meet Feral. How nice?"
"You met Feral before. When all of you idiots rescued me from the Kree on Terra. Or did being over a hundred years old make you forget that?"
"Watch it. You should respect your elders."
"You're an idiot. And so is Sam."
"He would apologize but he has to heal his windpipe," Zemo snaps and I look at him.
"Then maybe he shouldn't think that putting a gag on someone with my issues is a good idea, Zemo!"
"It was meant as a joke! You would not shut up so he was helping!"
"Get off of my ship and don't come back until you can understand the difference between a joke and what that was! Because there's a major one!"
"Kid-"
"NOW!"
"Might be a good idea to listen, Sam," Steve says carefully from the doorway and Zemo pulls him to his feet, guiding him off of the ship. "You OK?"
"Why?"
"You're glowing still. And the Sovereign people seem to be waking up so we should get outta here."
"Morgan."
"Going to get Tullk to help round everyone up now, Cap. We can talk more in a bit, Indri."
"OK. Or I could come help and we can talk now?"
"Uh, no. We're gonna have a chat," Dad says as he stops her and she looks at me hopefully, but I don't notice right away while Morgan hauls ass off the ship.
"Dad."
"I'm not gonna kill her."
"Dad."
"I'm not gonna embarrass her either."
"Dad."
"Christ! I won't, alright?"
"Good. Now... I'm going to go... Destroy something... That isn't a meat sack of humanoid... Because I'm pissed the fuck off..."
"I will spar with you," Drax says and I look at him for a moment.
"Fine. Whatever. I don't care. I get to punch shit so works for me. This way to the gym." I lead the way and look at my wrist com when it pings. "PIXEL, tell Tullk to take us anywhere so long as it isn't Nova, Sovereign, Skrull Radical, or Kree Radiacal territory."
"Right away."
"Are you prepared to fight, Rogue?" I toss my duster across a bench and shift into a fighting stance as heavy metal music plays around us.
"Yeah. Are you prepared to lose?"
"We shall see, won't we?"
"I guess we shall." He throws the first punch and I block it, kicking him in the chest afterward.
"That was new, Rogue."
"No. It's just been too long since we've sparred without weapons, Drax."
"I suppose you do have a point. I will not be going as easy on you as I did then, however."
"Then, please, Drax. Give me your best." He attacks with vigor and I lose myself slightly in the routine of sparring with him.
He knocks me onto my ass and I roll away so he punches the floor, sliding slightly in a crouch. "C'mon, Drax. You can move faster than that, can't you?"
"Do not try to taunt me, Rogue. It has never worked in your favor before and it will not now either."
"Says you," I smirk and watch him while I think quickly. He advances on me and I sweep his legs quickly, pinning him with my forearm lightly against his throat. "Bang."
"Well, you have improved, Rogue." I stand and offer him my hand, pulling him to his feet.
"What the Hell did we just witness?" I look toward the door to see Bucky standing there with the other Avengers, including Sam and Zemo.
"Sparring session."
"You are all insane," Rhodey scoffs and I shrug slightly, remembering something.
"Hey, Pep-"
"We're all going to go on your old ship. Once it's taken out of storage."
"Cool. Steve, did you find those holopads I asked you about?" He tosses them to me and I look through the code quickly. "Yes!"
"What?"
"Remember that code I tried out on Mainframe before the Corps said that I was dead when in reality they had given me over to the Kree?"
"Wha' 'bout it, Kid?"
"Well, Kragsy, my all-time favorite Uncle, this little bit of code here also copied her code. And it happened to update alongside her code. Whenever she updated it, this got updated too."
"So tha' means-?"
"That means we've got the shot to bring Bottie back. Once I have a place for her to be put..."
"My ship has her old form," Stakar says simply and I look at T'Challa.
"I will dock us on the Meeting Planet so that we may look for it."
"It's not going to be on the Starhawk. It's on my M-ship. Open it, Rogue."
"You could at least say please, y'know?" I grab my duster and head back to the hangar, shoving past Sam as I do.
"Kid! Play nice!" I ignore Kraglin for now and go toward Stakar's M-ship, the Astraeus.
"PIXEL."
"Opening the gangplank now." I stride onboard and Stakar follows, opening a closet.
"This is what Mainframe would use until we got her a proper body."
"Then the same thing goes now. Once we can get her a proper body again, I can help transfer her over to it. Follow me." I disembark and go over to my workbench, resting my duster over the back of my chair. "Set it down and I'll get started."
"We can do it ourselves."
"I need to adjust things so no, you can't. Set her head down, Stakar." He does and looks at me while I calmly gather my tools. "If you keep glaring like that, you might manage to burn a hole in my skull."
"What do you need to adjust, Rogue?"
"Well, Sparkles, I have to adjust her memory databanks."
"Why?"
"When Gabriel removed her memories of me, he put them on a hard drive and gave them to me. Any technological evidence of me was stored on another hard drive. It's given me a chance to remake my image, establish a name for myself, all that good shit. PIXEL, visor."
"Of course." It forms over my eye and I brush a few loose strands of hair out of my face before I pull a glove onto my right hand.
"You Michael Jackson now?"
"You're just jealous I can moonwalk better than you, Dad. I'd rather not take any chances with my arm deciding to not work due to this code. So... Glove." I attach wires and watch for a moment as her code is uploaded, allowing her to boot up.
"What...? Who are you?"
"Hang on." I take a hard drive out of my inside vest pocket and plug it in after a moment, watching the code flash across her eyes.
"ROGUE!"
"Hey, Bottie..."
"You're alive!"
"Takes a lot to kill me," I scoff and she narrows her eyes at me slightly.
"Where is my body?"
"Well... About that... I don't know... So, uh... We're looking into getting you a new one... Soon as we can go see Chex without getting noticed by the fuckin' Novas..."
"You have another rivalry going with them?"
"You've been gone for a while... I'm as wanted by the Corps as I am by the Kree and Skrulls that remain in the galaxy..."
"Next question. What the Hell happened to your arm and face?"
"I'm not in the mood to go over it again, Mainframe... Raincheck?"
"Fine. But you will be telling me."
"Yes, Ma'am..."
"Smartass."
"Yeah... Kinda have to be... Gotta have some way to mask things, don't I?"
"Father wishes to see us, Rogue."
"Oh, joy. Fuck you, Heimdall! Snitch!"
"Who are you yelling at?"
"You'll see soon enough... Have you told Tullk to land us on a Ravager-friendly spot out of-?"
"Yes. He said we will be landing shortly."
"Yay..." I take my hair down and let it fall over my eye again, just as we land. "Well... Let's get this over with, then..."
"So excited to see Father, Captain?"
"I never am... He's a crazy old bastard... Let's go..." Stakar picks up Mainframe and I lead the way off of the ship, walking far enough away that the lightning won't harm the ships.
"We'll keep an eye on things here, Razzle Dazzle."
"Gee, thanks, Tones," I scoff and he waves before Heimdall activates the Bifrost to take us to Asgard.
"Rogue."
"Heimdall."
"Odin has requested that you have your hair pulled back or he will singe it off as soon as you step foot into the throne room."
"Of course he has and of course he would. Thanks for the heads up." I start to head that way and pause when he slams his staff on the pedestal where he stands, looking at him again.
"His words are not to be taken lightly. As you are aware."
"I am aware and I don't care. I can worry about myself, Heimdall. Thank you for the warning. Do not dare to interrupt me again or Odin will not be the only one on the planet whose words are not to be taken lightly. Have I made myself clear?" My magic was crackling around my body slightly and he stares at me calmly for a moment before bowing his head.
"My apologies, your highness."
"Don't call me that."
"Admiral." I power down and turn on my heel, duster kicking up slightly as I stride into the throne room.
"MODDY!"