Canon Fodder

CHAPTER 448 ROYAL PAIN

I coughed up a huge glob of blood with a little hint of bile mixed in. Not the best taste in the world I shot back up, flying straight at the purple man again. My vision blurry, Tabi distracted him by shooting her searing hot blue flames at his front. His supersuit untouched, he at least was a little bloody. 

My skin turning black as I channeled Armament Haki into my fist I coated my body with Hoken again as I punched him. The new power I had received was the only thing that mildly hurt the super charged alien. He had super strength, speed, and flight, so he was basically Superman without the heat vision. Thus a major pain in our asses. 

When we decided to peace out after his job offer, someone used an electromagnetic pulse or something to kill our holo-projectors, revealing our race to the murderous plum. Our fight had been going on for over an hour by then. Floors below where we started fighting. I punched Gladiator in the face, throwing him into the metal wall. 

I closed my eyes as the Hoken entered the man’s body. I hadn’t had any time whatsoever to try out the new energy. A mix of electricity, Haki, and Nen, I had coated my body in the power like before. But instead of just zapping Gladiator when I hit him or was hit, it entered into his body. Like a piece of myself entering him, I was able to do a number of things that had been out of my reach before. 

Mentally forcing the power to attack his nerves, he was sent into another wave of agony as Gladiator felt pain over his entire body. I hadn’t been able to hurt his exterior body, but my Hoken was inside of him reeking all the havoc it wanted as it shot through him like a game of Pong as it bounced from one corner to another. 

“Mother fucker!” Wolverine yelled as he finally got back up. A steel shaft piercing from shoulder to just below his ribs, he roared as he ripped it out of himself. When the steel was out, his wound already began to heal again. His Spiritual Energy like a rage inferno dipped in a fury of Anger Management counseling failures, he charged at Gladiator as my Hoken began to die down inside of him. 

A huge glob of blood spat out of my side as my body struggled to heal the major damage. I charged my hand with Hoken, forcing it to heal faster as Wolverine took our foes focus. My intestines trying to spill out I held them in as my body visibly healed. My strength draining with the increased healing, my hands shook, trying to ignore the pain my whole body was in. I was brought out of my own damage as Wolverine roared again. 

Wolverine’s eyes bloodshot from rage, his hair practically stuck straight up like a Super Saiyan. I knew the real reason he was pissed was because his flannel was damaged though. Smiling wide I began to condense Nen over my skin. Hovering just over my body, I could feel it strengthen and defend me as the air practically crackled with power as I ran at Gladiator. 

The mohawked warrior roared as well, as he pushed through the pain and met us. His fist like a boulder I felt my bones creak as I blocked a blow. Wolverine shot his claws out slicing at the arm but they barely sunk into his skin.

“Die!” Gladiator yelled as he gathered power in his fist. 

“Here it comes!” I yelled as I moved behind Wolverine. Before the mutant could react, Gladiator shot another wave of psionic power at us. The physical psychic power was a wave of intense power that ate at Wolverine’s front. Blasting his clothes away, the feral man didn’t care. He punched and sliced at Gladiator’s fist, pushing through the psionic blast as it tore at his skin. 

My hands pushed into Wolverine’s back. Shooting Hoken into him, I somehow empowered his own healing process. Telling his body to heal with my electricity, he was able to push through the psionic blast and made it to the purple-nurple. This time he went at the alien’s abs. Trying to disembowel him. Gladiator grunted and jumped back, stopping his attack. 

“Three minutes,” I reminded Wolverine. That seemed to be the time it took for Gladiator to recover his psionic energy. 

“YeAh, Yeah,” Wolverine said, his face still healing, metal coated bones disappeared as skin regrew around his mouth and throat. “Why am I the human shield again?”

“You’re the one with the OP power,” I said as I closed my eyes. Focusing on the water in the air I pulled in the energy it held, replenishing my stores of strength slightly. 

“I’m overpowered?” Wolverine asked. “You’re been doing this a few months and still alive in a fight like this. Pretty sure you got the cheat barrel in that car accident.” 

“Maybe I did,” I said. “Let’s fucking do this.” I punched my fists together and Wolverine nodded. Facing Gladiator, the much taller man smirked at us. 

“You humans are stronger than I expected,” he said. “But you must die to save this planet.”

“Fuck, I hate fighting without knowing all the information,” I said. “Listen buddy, we aren’t just going to roll over and die, alright? So please, just…roll over and die for us.”

“I cannot do that. My duty is not complete. I have sacrificed too much to let you ruin this,” Gladiator said.

“Talking in goddamn riddles,” Wolverine said. He side eyed me. “Hey, you didn’t get psychic powers, did you?”

“Uhhh no,” I said. “Why?”

“I just had an idea,” he said. 

“Woah, he knock some sense into you?” I asked. 

“I’m gonna kick your ass after I kick his,” Wolverine said. “Listen…remember what this guy said at the start? He’s got like a mistress or something.” Gladiator’s Haki pulsed again. This time he was full of rage at the mention of his mistress. 

“Yeah, I know,” I said. “I sent Scarlet to find her a while ago.” Worry coursed through Gladiator.

“You did?” Wolverine asked.

“Yeah,” I said, pointing at a staircase as Scarlet Witch began walking up it. I had been feeling her draw closer and closer with my Observation Haki. She was dragging someone along with her. “You were taking a nap or something.”

“I will kill all of you,” Gladiator said, his words drawing our eyes. Behind us was Scarlet and her Shi’ar captive. A woman with a triangle shaped hair cut.  

“Hold it, buddy,” I said. “This chick seems pretty weak, and my friend can kill her before you can get to her. So why don’t you all stop with the bullshit and tell us why-” He made a move for me. Like a freight train powered by a jet engine he flew straight at me. I called all my powers instantly as Tabi leapt toward me, ready to fuse again.

But he didn’t reach me. “Kallark!” Scarlet’s captive yelled, stopping him in mid-air, right before he punched me with what I guessed was his actual strength. I stared at him, my own fist mid-swing, stopped by the woman’s words. 

“Mistress,” Gladiator pleaded. “We must-”

“No, your plan is no longer feasible,” the woman said. “We will now try my own.”

“We-”

“I have spoken,” the new Shi’ar woman said. Without another word Kallark/Gladiator landed on his feet a pace away from me. Angry, but subservient, I turned to eye the new woman. 

She had yellow tinted skin, but the bird features were farless pronounced than with other Shi’ar. Smooth cheeks, curly eyebrows, she wore a metal skin-tight outfit that showed off some curves. For once, I actually found a hot alien. She was a sight for sore eyes in this world of one grotesque alien after another. 

“Come, we will discuss the issues with my planet,” she said with all the authority in the world. 

—

“Mandor Naramani, is my brother,” the Shi’ar woman said. We were about a dozen floors from where we started the fight. Finally in the bowels of the crime lord’s stronghold, none of the criminals that worked in the hideout had bothered us as the woman escorted us. The reason for us being left alone was obvious now, since she must have been some kind of royalty if she was related to the Majestor. 

“Months ago, he had our mother killed,” the woman said. “I am Lilandra Naramani, the rightful heir to the Shi’ar throne.” She said the words as if it was supposed to mean something to us. She was sitting on a miniature throne in a large room. Her guardian, Kallark/Gladiator beside her, he stared at us still filled with rage. 

Scarlet, Wolverine, and I stood apart from them, waiting for more. No words came. 

“So?” I asked, breaking the silence. 

“So?” Lilandra asked, surprised by my reaction. “It was reported I was dead along with my mother.” She looked at us more frustrated, as if this was supposed to be common knowledge. “My mother was poisoned and a coup in the Imperial Guard allowed Mandor to nearly kill me as well.” Her hand reached over to the purple skinned giant who hardly moved as he glared at us. “Kallark was able to save me though. We have been in hiding ever since.”

“Well that’s just great,” Wolverine said. He sucked on the remains of the only cigar that wasn’t obliterated by Gladiator. Tabi purred boredly around my neck. 

“Listen, lady, we aren’t local. I’m sure you’re a celebrity here and all, but we really don’t give a crap,” I said truthfully. 

“You will call her, Maj-” Gladiator said, but she cut him off. 

“Yes, I am starting to see that. Either way, the arrival of your people greatly puts our people at risk. We must get you away from our systems,” she said the words slowly, trying not to imply that killing us was the original plan. 

“That’s great,” I said. “We want that too. We honestly came here to try to beat-get a ride out of here as well.”

“This would be an impossibility,” Lilandra said with a sad smile. “My brother has blocked all space travel in the sector. The majority of protective ships are in orbit just in case the Kree Champion, Car-Ell, tries to escape.” 

I cursed internally. I knew that of course, but I had been hoping for some kind of out. As I read her Spiritual Energy, I could tell she had a plan though. I decided to push her for more answers though. “Why would killing us help you exactly?”

“Because, my brother uses this trial as a precursor for war,” Lilandra said. She had a strong voice, and obviously was used to projecting her voice in a great hall. Grace and royalty practically oozed off her as as she stared down at us though she was only a few feet away. “My people and the Kree have been at odds with one another for as far back as our people can remember. For the last few hundred years, we have mostly been at peace. My brother wishes to change that though.” 

Sadness leaked into her as she broke eye contact with me. Her eyes watering slightly she looked to no where in particular as she spoke, as if she was remembering something. “It started a year ago. Nariprime was destroyed, losing billions of people.” Wolverine and I shared a look, lost again since that name didn’t mean anything to us. “Then Yill was wiped out and Hullflarm. I didn’t see it at first. But since my brother's assassination attempt, I have learned he sold these planets to a terrible warmonger named Thanos.”

“Thanos?” I asked, perking up, but she ignored me. 

“It turns out that they have been working together for years. Oftentimes making a planet’s destruction look like an accident. Either a gravity shift or hidden asteroid. Each was Thanos’ war parties wiping them out. I still do not know why he continues to destroy entire civilizations, but Mandor has been corrupted by him. Now they wish to start a war with the Kree. I believe to hide more planets being sold and ravaged by Thanos.” 

n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Lilandra finally looked back at us. “We were lucky that you humans were called and not the Kree. But if Car-Ell is killed like my brother hopes. They will declare war in full force. We need to get you all off of the planet before the Arin'n Haelar begins.” Again there was the threat of death there. 

“So if we go, whatever teleported us here, won’t be able to get us?” I asked, confused how they could pull us half way across the universe and not just prevent us from getting too far. 

“No, Garuda can only act in certain instances. If you were to escape the planet then the Arin'n Haelar would be considered your win. Birds cannot be caged. As it was done in the founding of 195421.33 when my ancestor the Great-”

“Yeah we don’t need a history lesson,” I said, cutting her off. “We need a spaceship, and probably someone to fly it. What would it take?”

Kallark and Lilandra shared a look this time. Both having a conversation in an instant before looking back to us. “We could assist with this, of course,” Lilandra said. “But you would need a distraction to ensure that the omnipotent Garuda no longer focuses on you.” I wasn’t sure why they gave their AI so much power, but that was their own fault for not watching Terminator.

“What kind of distraction?” Wolverine growled, both of us understanding what was about to be asked of us. 

“You will have to kill the Majestor,” Kallark said, his voice grave. 

“Of fucking course,” I mumbled, rubbing my hand across my face. 

“Yes, that is the only way,” Lilandra said, mildly sad by the news. “With the Majestor dead, all of his orders to Garuda would be brought into question. The AI would no longer prioritize keeping you on planet. You would only have to worry about the Starship captains loyal to my brother. But if you were able to succeed, I could guarantee your safe passage.” 

Her words were truthful, but I didn’t buy them for a second. Nothing, especially assassinations, ever went as smoothly as that. Stuck between the Majestor and Lilandra for a power struggle involving a highly advanced civilization that could wipe Earth from existence, we were going to have to come up with some other plan. And by we, I meant me, since my quest updated with a ding.