C116 I’m Star-Lord (Patreon)
Content
Peter dragged Sabertooth's limp, bloody body back to his cell, unceremoniously tossing him inside. He let out a tired sigh as he locked the cell door behind him. ‘I can’t wait to get into bed and listen to music until I fall asleep…”
The alien metal bars hummed faintly with a forcefield, designed to keep even the most powerful prisoners contained. He glanced around at the other cells, noticing that both Toad and Juggernaut were awake and making their first attempts to escape.
Toad's tongue shot out, hoping to slip between the bars, but the instant it made contact with the forcefield, a burst of electricity coursed through it. Toad yelped in pain, retracting his tongue and glaring at Peter with hatred in his eyes.
"Wad da fuq wasat?!(What the f*ck was that?!)" Toad slurred, his tongue numb from the voltage.
Juggernaut, on the other hand, was relentlessly punching the bars of his cell. Each punch was met with a surge of energy from the same forcefield, sending jolts of electricity through his massive frame. But despite the pain, he continued his assault, determined to break free.
"You think this will hold me?" Juggernaut roared, slamming his fists against the bars again. "You're dead when I get out of here!"
Peter scoffed, crossing his arms. "Yeah, yeah. I'm so scared~"
Toad snarled, lunging at the bars again, only to be electrocuted once more. "You'll regret this! Just wait until Magneto hears about this! He’s gonna kill you and everyone you ever loved!”
Peter shook his head, a smirk forming on his lips. "Well, I was planning to feed you guys today, but now I’m not so sure..." he muttered, shrugging nonchalantly. "Anyway, get comfortable. Because you might be here for a while..."
With that, he turned and walked away, the sounds of their angry shouts fading behind him.
…
As Peter descended the ramp of his ship, which closed up securely behind him, his data pad suddenly rang, the sound echoing in the quiet hangar.
Peter frowned, fishing the device out of his pocket. He half-expected it to be one of his masters or Padme, but to his surprise, the caller ID read "Peggy."
"?" He looked confused, having been with her less than ten minutes ago, but he answered the call nonetheless. “What’s up?”
"Peter, where are you?" Peggy's voice was urgent, laced with worry. "We have an emergency."
Peter's brow furrowed. "What’s going on?"
"Xavier called. We need to get to the school, now." Peggy's tone left no room for argument.
Peter nodded, already moving. "On my way."
He ended the call and paced out of the hangar, his mind racing with possibilities.
‘Did Magneto attack?’
————
The night sky was clear as Peter and Peggy flew one of Dreykov’s old helicopters over to Xavier’s School. The flight took less than twenty minutes, having parked the Red Room fairly close by.
As they approached the mansion, Peter's eyes widened at the sight below. “…”
The front yard looked like a war zone. Craters and debris littered the ground, and the mansion itself bore the scars of battle. About twenty percent of it was crumbling and destroyed, mainly in the middle where the front door once stood.
Meanwhile, all across the grounds, students and school staff were hard at work, many using their powers to more efficiently clean up the mess.
Peter set the helicopter down gently on the lawn, and as the rotors slowed, he and Peggy stepped out and were greeted by Fury and Coulson, who awaited their arrival.
"Peter," Fury barked, his tone leaving no room for pleasantries. "We need to talk…”
“Sure,” Peter nodded, expecting some questions. “But first, take me to Carol."
Coulson nodded, not wasting any time. "Follow me."
Peggy had already explained what had happened while en route, so Peter was fully appraised of the situation. Carol woke up and went on a rampage, and she was only stopped when Professor Xavier returned and put her to sleep.
Driven by curiosity, Peter needed to see Carol and uncover what had turned her so violent. ‘In the movie, she had never been this indiscriminate and aggressive, even under the Kree's control.’ Something had clearly changed, and he was determined to find out what.
They approached the gaping hole where the front door used to be, and the full extent of the destruction became even more apparent. The inside of the mansion was a mess of broken walls and scattered debris.
Fury didn't waste a moment before he started questioning Peter. "It's been less than a week since we gave you the file on Carol Danvers and her involvement with Project Pegasus. Now, she shows up here, has strange powers, and goes on a rampage. What the hell is going on?"
Peter sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "It's complicated. Honestly, I have questions too. But if Carol remembers where she's been, we should get our answers soon enough." He hoped his evasive response would suffice, at least for now.
Fury frowned, clearly unsatisfied with Peter's answer. Coulson and Peggy exchanged glances, both sensing that Peter knew more than he was letting on. But before they could press him further, they arrived at Xavier's office, which thankfully hadn't been destroyed.
Peter knocked on the door, and a calm voice called out, "Come in."
They entered to find Professor Xavier sitting behind his desk, sifting through reports on the damage to the school. Across from him, where a leather sofa used to be, a hospital bed had been moved into the office. In it, Carol Danvers lay sleeping, her face serene despite the chaos she had caused.
"Professor," Peter said, stepping forward. "How is she?" He asked as he approached Carol's bedside.
Xavier sighed, rolling his wheelchair over. "I've put her in a telepathic-induced coma for the time being. It's why she's been moved into my office. I need to ensure she won't wake up and go on another rampage. Besides, the infirmary is a bit packed at the moment."
Peter nodded, his eyes scanning Carol's peaceful face. He turned to Xavier. "Have you found anything that could explain why she went postal?"
Xavier retrieved an X-ray from her bedside and handed it to Peter. "We believe this chip in her neck is to blame. It's connected to her nervous system."
Peter's eyes narrowed as he studied the X-ray, his mind racing with possibilities. Could someone have tampered with the inhibitor chip she had in the movies?
Xavier continued, "When I returned, before I put Carol back to sleep, I found something odd. She appears to have been trapped in her own mind while her body acted on its own. She was very scared and confused, as if she had no idea what was happening."
Nodding, Peter handed the X-ray back to Xavier and stepped closer to Carol's bedside, lost in thought. “So, the chip is controlling her…”
Peggy broke the silence. "Can't we just remove it? Won't that solve everything?"
As if on cue, Beast entered the room, his expression grave. "No, we cannot just remove the chip. I've run some tests on it and found a few glaring issues. First, it's connected to a very precarious portion of her nerves, and any careless removal would likely cripple her for life. And second, I believe the chip is outfitted with—"
"Explosives," Peter interrupted, finishing Beast's sentence.
All eyes turned to Peter, who had his hand placed gently on Carol's neck, glowing faintly with the Force as he used Mechu Deru to scan the chip.
Beast raised an eyebrow. "How did you know?"
Peter shrugged, pulling his hand back as the glow faded. "I've seen it many times before. You’re right though, the chip is controlling her. It's a nasty piece of work, actually. Even worse than the slave chips I've seen."
Peggy's eyebrows shot up. "Slave chips?" she asked, voicing the question on everyone's mind.
Peter shrugged again. "I'll explain another time. Right now, we need to focus on removing the chip."
Beast frowned, deep in thought. "But how can we do that? Even if we deactivate the explosives and any other unknown security on the chip, we'd still need a surgeon to remove it. And while I may be a doctor in many fields, I am no surgeon."
The room fell silent as everyone pondered the dilemma. Peter was the first to break the silence. "I can deactivate the chip's security and explosives."
All eyes turned to Peter with a mix of surprise and skepticism.
"How?" Xavier asked.
Peter smirked and waved his hand, forcefully taking control of the Professor's electric wheelchair. To everyone's astonishment, the chair began to move around the room seemingly on its own.
Xavier tried to use the controls to regain command, but to no avail. "What is this?"
Peter's smirk widened. "I guess you could say that I have an affinity for electronics," he explained, making the Professor's chair spin around in circles.
"Stop! That’s enough!" Xavier shouted, growing more nauseous by the second.
Peter complied, halting the chair's movements with a flick of his wrist. “See?”
Xavier took a moment to regain his composure before turning the chair back to face Peter and the group. "Are you sure you aren't a mutant?" He asked, his gaze filled with suspicion.
Peter shrugged nonchalantly. "I've never actually tested it, so it's possible I could have the X-gene," he admitted.
Xavier looked at him keenly, intrigued. "We would gladly run the tests for you. It's hard to believe you somehow managed to cultivate these powers on your own. It just doesn't make any logical sense..."
Peter chuckled. "Maybe another day, Professor. Right now, we need to get that chip out of Carol."
Beast nodded in agreement but looked concerned. "The only problem is actually taking it out. You may be able to deactivate the security on it, but removing it is still risky. It's embedded exactly where every nerve in her body converges into her brain. One wrong move, and she could be crippled, or worse, she could die."
The weight of Beast's words hung heavily in the room as they all considered the situation, their minds searching for a solution.
Peggy was the first to break the silence. "Shield has many surgeons on staff, but I'm not sure I can trust them now that we know Hydra is lurking within..."
Peter then spoke up, "Maybe I could use my telekinesis to remove it?"
There were hopeful looks exchanged, but Xavier quickly shot down the idea. "Using telekinesis for such delicate work is extremely difficult. Do you have any practice and experience in such delicate procedures?"
Peter frowned and shook his head. "No. I don’t…” he admitted. ‘I've trained in control, but nothing like this. I wish I had... I'll need to come up with a training plan to improve my precision for situations like this.’
Coulson asked, "Can't we just take her to a hospital? We can get a normal surgeon to do it."
Peggy nodded. "That might be the only way. It would complicate matters, but it's not like we have much choice."
Suddenly, Peter's face lit up with an idea. "What if we hire a surgeon? We have the equipment here, right? They can just make a house call, can't they?"
Beast frowned in thought. "That could work, but it would be hard to convince a surgeon to do so…"
Peter smirked. "I think I know just the right surgeon for the job..."
A/N: 1921 words :) 4/4 done ✅ Doing another chapter next. I might try to do 2 more, but we’ll see. I’m slow lately.