C263 Spider-Man (Patreon)
Content
Sadly for the Guardians, who wanted a bit of good old fashion revenge against the terrorists that bested them, the Sons of Ronan gave themselves up as soon as Peter called them again.
Their elderly leader seemed to have a good head on his shoulders.
He realized that Peter wasn’t even taking him seriously, to begin with. In fact, they were used as a sort of training tool for the former hostages, as if this was a harmless exercise for new recruits.
Though what really helped him make his decision was the portals.
If the Nova Corps could open those portals anywhere, then they could be flanked and killed at any moment, making any sort of resistance literally impossible.
With nothing else to do, the man chose to surrender in hopes that the Kree Empire would trade for their release.
After all, they had to be funded by somebody, and everyone knew that the Kree empire was forced into the treaty that sparked all of this.
Of course, the Kree Empire would never admit to funding a terrorist cell, which would be more than enough to skate away from any responsibility, as the Nova Empire wants to maintain the peace more than anything.
“This was a good mission.” Peter says happily as he watches the Nova Corps drag the sullen Sons of Ronan away.
“For you, maybe.” Quill says with a scoff. “The rest of us had the pleasure of learning your ‘lesson’.”
“Well, it was an important lesson to learn, don’t you think?.” Peter asks as he turns to Gamora.
As Gamora nods her head, Rocket speaks up.
“Yeah, we learned that we’re useless and weak.” He sounded both annoyed and sullen about the whole situation. “Just a bunch of powerless losers.”
“True...” Peter agreed with a nod.
“Hey! You ain’t supposed to agree with him.” Quill shouts in protest.
“...but you could be great if you work together.” Peter clarifies as he continues to watch the terrorists being arrested. “I was hoping they would put up a bit more resistance so that you guys could have your first fight together, but I guess I scared them a little too much.”
There’s always next time though.
“Who are you?” The captured terrorist leader asks as he passes Peter on his way to the patrol ships.
“Just your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man!” Peter responds cheerfully with a wave.
“?” The confused man felt that he was being played with as a Nova soldier prodded him forward.
...
“So, how did the other locations go?” Peter asked as they returned to the Nova Corps headquarters.
The rest of the Guardians ran off to get some food, leaving him to finish up the work.
Although they asked for him to join them, Peter has always been the type of person to finish his work before anything else.
“Just as planned.” The Commander replies readily. “I sent more than enough soldiers to deal with them. Sadly, a few of my men didn’t make it back, but that’s always expected in an operation like this.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.” Peter says respectfully as he eyes a short list of names. “Are these the highest-ranking members that were captured today?”
“Yes, sir.” The commander nodded.
“Alright, I’ll extract information from them one last time and then leave you to finish the cleanup.” Peter says after a moment of thought.
“That would help us immensely.” The commander was very eager for the treasure trove of information that Peter would give him, especially from that elderly Kree, who seemed to be the head man in charge of the Sons of Ronan.
“Good, let's get it done then.”
-Hours later-
After a few hours, Peter finished hypnotizing each high-level terrorist, providing the Nova Corps with far more information than they thought was possible.
First, they found all of the remaining bases and individuals related to the Sons of Ronan.
Acting quickly, the Commander started the hunt as soon as the information was brought to him.
Secondly, the Sons of Ronan seemed to be sponsored by quite a few people, including the Kree Empire, though the Commander didn’t seem all that surprised by that information.
As for the other sponsors, there seemed to be a handful of wealthy radical Kree sympathizers on Xanov, sending money whenever they could.
One of which was also the connect who supplied the Sons with explosives.
Of course, these people would be quite surprised when the Nova Corps came knocking at their doors.
“I believe that wraps up everything.” Peter says as he stood before the Nova Commander.
“Yes, we can handle the rest from here.” He says with a tired yet accomplished look on his face. “I want to thank you on behalf of Xanov for all that you’ve done. Without you, we would still be chasing shadows while more of our civilians died in droves.”
“I’m happy to help.” Peter says as he shook the man's hand one last time and went on his way.
...
After leaving the Nova Corps headquarters, Peter found the Guardians in what looked like an alien noodle shop, eating and drinking together.
Unlike before, they seemed to be a bit more friendly with one another.
Rocket was actually talking to everyone without his usual gruffness.
Drax looked to be drunk off of some blue alien wine.
Quill was still fawning over Gamora, who didn’t seem so distant anymore.
And lastly, Groot was drinking from a pitcher of amber liquid with a happy look on his face.
‘Either today’s lesson was a good one, or they feel more united in their annoyance with me...’ Peter thought with a shrug.
Either way, the outcome was worth it.
...
After watching them for a moment, Peter strolled over and joined them at their table.
“Spider!” Drax shouted drunkenly as he held up his cup of wine. “You must try this Xandarian Juice! It is splendid...”
Looking at Quill and Rocket, Peter could instantly tell that they were behind Drax’s misconception.
“You know what? Sure, why not.” He shrugged uncaringly and took the cup, downing the entire thing through his mask. ‘It’s too tiring to be the responsible one all the time...’
...
After a long night out that some among the crew wouldn’t remember, everyone awoke on Quill's ship, groggy and extremely hungover.
“My head...” Quill muttered in pain as he regained consciousness on the floor of the ship's bathroom.
Pulling himself off of the floor, Quill left the bathroom and found his new friends in a similar state to his own.
Drax was puking into a bucket with a dead look in his eyes.
Groot seemed to be in a similar state, though instead of throwing up, he was losing a few leaves on his branches as if Fall had come early.
Rocket was still passed out on the floor in front of Groot, hugging a bottle of booze like a teddy bear.
Gamora... She looked completely fine.
“How come you’re not hungover?” Quill asks, feeling the dryness in his mouth with every word.
“I didn’t drink last night.” Gamora admitted.
“You’re no fun...” Quill rolled his eyes as he found a bottle of water and downed it in a matter of seconds.
“Good morning!” Peter shouted as he walked in from the cockpit.
Instantly, Quill twitched and covered his ears as Rocket woke with a start, holding his liquor bottle like a weapon.
“Fascist Scum!” He screamed as he threw the bottle, which shattered against one of Quill's naughty posters of a naked alien woman.
“I hope you enjoyed your sleep because we just arrived on Xandar!” Peter continued to speak loudly, knowing exactly what he was doing.
“Can you keep it down...” Drax asked as he emptied his stomach into the bucket once again.
“Wait a minute...” Quill muttered as he looked at Peter in confusion. “You definitely drank last night. I remember you downing a bottle of what looked like battery acid. How are you not like us?”
“Perks of having superpowers.” Peter shrugs as everyone glares at him in jealousy. “What? Don’t look so negative. You should be happy. We’re all about to be 100 thousand Units richer.”
As Peter says this, both Rocket and Quill seemed to turn a complete 180. The Hangover symptoms quickly vanished as they rushed into the cockpit, where they saw Planet Xandar in the distance.
“Haha! We’re gonna be rich!”
—————————————
Hours after the Guardians left the peaceful planet of Xanov behind, a large Chitauri fleet appeared on the horizon.
“Are you sure they were spotted here?” Corvus asks his wife, as they both stare at the peaceful planet below.
“Yes, my information broker is hardly ever wrong.” Proxima sounded very sure of herself.
Suddenly, before they could say another word, an image of an orange man in high-level Nova Corps garb was projected before them.
“Unknown invasion force, you are ordered to turn your army around this instant. Any attacks on this peaceful planet will not be taken lightly. The Nova Empire will not stand idly by...”
“My love, look at him.” Proxima smirks at the Nova Commander. “Barking orders like a scared little animal...”
“It’s always the weakest that make the most noise...” Corvus agreed in distaste.
“...” Seeing the lack of fear in the people he was talking to, the commander changed his tactics in hopes of settling this without bloodshed. “Why are you here?”
“Now we’re talking.” Corvus says with a smirk. “Your puny planet may make it out of this alive, after all.”
“Get to the point.” The commander says impatiently.
“Maybe not...” Corvus muttered as he sent some information over. “We have information that these life forms have visited your planet. Give them to us and we will not invade.”
“...” As the images of Xanovs saviors appeared before him, the commanded eyes widened in shock.
“You’ve seen them?” Corvus read him like a book.
“No, they aren’t here.” The commander shakes his head, only partially lying.
Of course, he met them but they left about 10 hours before this invasion fleet arrived.
“Turn your ships around and leave.” His eyes harden as he glares at the children of Thanos.
He had a debt to Spider-Man and refused to give him or his friends up so easily.
“That was the wrong answer, I’m afraid.” Corvus shook his head.
After he spoke, the Chitauri fleet came to life once again and rushed to the planet below.
“This is an act of-” The commander screams, but the call was swiftly cut off.
“I’ll kill that one myself...” Proxima commented as she grabbed her spear and walked off.
“Whatever you want, Dear.”
A/N: 1773 words :)