*6 months ago*

As I stepped into the Marvel door the darkness around me turned cold, and tiny lights littered the distance. I realized they were stars as the breath was sucked out of me. 

Instantly I was in the vacuum of space. My eyes bulging out in fear, I tried to hold my breath as a giant ship fired its lasers at me. I wanted to curse, unsure what was going on or where I was. Tabi has said I split ways with the other canon-cast, but I had assumed that meant some space station or on planet, not in the middle of the dark abyss. 

A large planet behind me, I knew I supposedly pissed the people of that planet off, but couldn’t remember why. Either way, it didn’t matter. The closest thing to me was a large spaceship firing lasers in my direction. The temperature rose significantly as one passed within a pace of me. Thankful for my recent training, my high-speed flight kicked in. I went my full speed directly at the ship. Clinging to my only hope as I tried not to let out the little air I did have in my lungs.

Getting around the laser fire I grabbed onto the metal hull of the ship. One stage of my ever-changing plan was complete. I looked around for some kind of window or hatch to get inside. These were aliens, there had to be like a million hatches in this giant spaceship. Panicking less and less as I began to move I was glad I left that other impossible situation in DC to enter another. It was all coming together. I just had to last for 24 hours and I could escape again to take on DC. 

My hands moved across cold glass. Inside was a small room. Some kind of viewing port I pulled at the strength I awoke. The Tremor came to me in a rush. That special part of my powers that used the Devil Fruit began to vibrate my palms as the tremors reflected off the smooth glass. Closing my eyes I focused the power. Making the Tremor into a fine point. And in a rush pushed it outward. 

The glass shattered into a million pieces and I was thrown away from the window as the air was sucked out. Flying hard, I pushed into the vacuum, flying into the open window as a shutter closed the gaping hole. Inside I noticed chairs and a door. The door had a keypad and scanner beside it. Charging my hand with Hoken, white lightning moved around it. I zapped the keypad mounted to the wall but nothing happened. 

“Shit,” I said, looking around. In movies a burst of electricity was all that was needed to open doors. These aliens must have had protections from my movie trope filled mind. Looking around the room the first thing I noticed was I was in my hoodie Hero Costume. Searching my pockets I found a small cube and a keycard. Curious why old me had a keycard I moved it to the scanner and the door opened up with a shik sound. 

“I’m fucking doing it,” I said amazed as I stepped into the long hall. Tabi had said Weston was good at finding a way to survive, and I was proving just as resourceful. Riding the high of mildly succeeding I ran down the hall toward where the lasers had been fired from. 

Two guards in front of me. They were tall with puffy hair cut into the shape of a triangle. Their features angular, memories began to flood in. I knew they were called the Shi’ar and were some kind of bird people. No other memories assailing me. I frowned as they lifted their weapons and began to fire. 

“Sh-” I said and time slowed around me. The two Shi’ar men with afros fired their weapons but the red light lasers moved far slower than I expected. Having somehow activated my Timeflow I flew forward. As time sped back up I reached the bird-people and knocked each out with a punch. 

“I’m amaz-”

“Attention! Full battle stations!” A voice said over the intercom. 

“These aren’t full?!” I yelled back at it. I had thought these guys were fighting me or something. Unsure why they weren’t in their stations before my unasked question was answered. 

“Kree have entered our territory,” the voice said. I frowned, not positive who the Kree were. More Shi’ar coming out of rooms and into the hall, I jumped up and flew over their heads toward the bridge. Two large doors closing in front of me I saw a lot of people punching keyboards in front of monitors. 

Speeding up more, the Shi’ar in the halls were blown away by the force of my flight until I screeched to a halt in what I assumed was the bridge. Below me were Shi’ar busily punching away at computers. None noticed me as I was near the ceiling and the bridge was a good 20 feet tall. 

“Kree are charging their guns!” “They must be here for Car-El.” “Damn these humans are annoying!” People yelled. The last came from another Shi’ar with a triangle haircut. He wore sparkly clothes that hung off his body like tinsel. I rushed for him. The tall man only noticing me as my Soulsword moved against his throat. 

“You mean, this human?” I asked. Internally cursing I knew past me would have come up with a better one liner. It was my first, and the best I had. 

The Shi’ar in charge eyed me. Fear leaking into him at the sight of me. His gaze moving along the blade he asked, “How did you-”

“I’m asking the questions,” I said, drawing some blood. Internally cursing since I didn’t mean to draw blood. I kept my face stoic as if everything was going to plan. “What’s happening here?”

“Wouldn’t you know more than I?” He asked. “You caused this.” The Shi’ar around us were backing up, some moving for weapons. 

“Nobody move or the christmas tree gets it,” I said. I was pretty sure my voice took on a pirate accent for some reason, but ignored it. My eyes wide as I moved behind the captain, it was time for some pirating. “I’m not exactly sure what’s going on, but-” That was when I remembered Tabi. Immediately I summoned her. 

The blue and black cat appeared out of nowhere. Landing on the triangle afro of the captain she said, “This isn’t DC.”

“I opened the wrong door,” I lied quickly. “This is Marvel. What’s going on?”

The cat looked around the room. A large screen focused on little dots in the distance she seemed to understand rapidly. “We are on a Shi’ar ship. They were fighting us. But their Majestor is dead. Is your AI down?”

The captain opened his mouth, but didn’t answer immediately. “Kill him,” Tabi said without hesitation.

“What? Why?” I asked with a frown. 

“Birds need a leader. Kill him and take over,” she said as if it was obvious. 

“I’m not doing that,” I hissed. The captain gulped, his adam’s apple hitting the tip of the Soulsword. 

“G-Garuda is down,” the very fearful captain squeaked. 

“That’s their artificial intelligence,” Tabi explained. “It was why we couldn’t just escape before. Now with the Majestor dead it doesn’t have any orders to follow. You, captain, this man is very strong, as I’m sure you know. He could kill you easily. For now we are commandeering this ship-” 

“The Kree have begun attacking!” A woman Shi’ar announced. Everyone turned to the main screen that zoomed into the lights. Lasers were fired from them, all aimed at us and the line of Shi’ar spaceships. 

“Return fi-” The captain tried to say, but Tabi’s claws extended out, digging into the top of his scalp. 

“I believe not,” she said. “Let’s get out of this space for a time. Your people caused a lot of annoyance for me and my human friends. Prepare to warp out of here.” The room became deathly silent. All the shi’ar around us, eyed one another, their haki shifting to…hope for some reason. 

“People, your Majestor is dead. Your Majestrix as well, most likely,” Tabi said, taking enjoyment from the scared stares they gave her. “My companion, Bastard, lopped off the arm of one of your strongest Imperial Guards. You have no AI, no orders, and no one to go after you.”

“Who is Bastard?” I whispered to her as the room became somehow more quiet. 

“That’s you, dumbass,” Tabi said. Despite training me, the abuse never stopped. I attributed it to her tailed beast personality, and left her to it. “Now, do as I say, or perish.” I moved the blade a little closer to the captain’s neck, meaning to draw blood this time. 

“D-Do as they say,” the captain said. People began rushing and pushing more buttons. It took time, but as the line of spaceships in front of us fired at the Kree ships, Tabi jumped to my shoulder, purring loudly. 

“You don’t want to go to DC yet, do you?” She asked. 

“Uhhh, not yet,” I admitted. “Are you mad?”

“A little, but I will get past it,” she said. “As long as you continue to do quests I supposed it won’t hurt. Besides, maybe you’ll think of some new way to use your powers that you haven’t thought of before.”

“You think?” I asked. 

“Warp Drive in 10,” someone said. 

“No, but its a good goal,” she said.

“Thanks,” I said, a little disheartened. 

“5 seconds,” someone said. I began to countdown aloud, much to the annoyance of the Shi’ar around me. Unsure what exactly I was doing, at least I was going somewhere. That was progress. Far better than standing still, I wanted to learn so much about the universe. Not stuff Weston had been through, but new experiences. My own existence as I traversed these worlds and- Everything twisted and we warped out of there. 

—

“Weston, up, please,” the disembodied voice pleaded. I gritted my teeth, pushing away my focus from the strengthening memories. I remembered what I had been doing and took another step toward the massive spiritual energy. Then another and another. Suddenly I was at the base of a large rocky pillar and my hands touched it to begin climbing.

Instantly the memories became stronger somehow, and I was whisked away once more. 

—

My leg bounced nervously. I was sitting in a waiting room in what looked like a truckstop bathroom. Not exactly a truckstop, since there were no stalls, but it had the same vibe. Graffiti on the walls, a light flickering overhead, yellow tile floors that had been white once upon a time. Weird chairs beside me there was a short set of stairs that went out into open space. Well not exactly open space, but it sure looked like it. 

On the planet, or planets known as Elsewhere, I had learned quickly not to expect much as far as comforts. Elsewhere itself was made of the body of some Eternal or Immortal being from millions of years ago. So massive that it had its own gravity and atmosphere. The place had a distant sun. People having settled on the body parts some time ago it was basically a truck stop in the nothingness between solar systems. No sky above, it was always night as stars and spaceships were the main source of light. 

Like truck stops back on Earth it tended to house less than ideal types. From Ravagers to Renegades, Elsewhere was the home of the unruly and rest area of the unwise. I had already been there for a few days, and knew my way around pretty well. 

About three weeks since I stole the Shi’ar ship. Tabi and I had been jumping from starship to transporter as we made our way across the galaxy. Luckily the old me had learned a lot about the people that lived in the galaxy. Having spent hours in a library finding tips and tricks to navigate the universe, those memories were some of the few I had received since starting this adventure in Marvel. Though Tabi mentioned heading to DC to get the rest of my memories, I was enjoying being a hitchhiker in the galaxy. Running from minor quest to quest we had helped quite a few people. 

First was a space princess that was kidnapped. I got a quest that made me kidnap her back. Then I gave her to her uncle who turned out to be the original person that wanted her kidnapped. Very Spaceballsesque, I got a nice reward of a few million spacebucks, or Sol as this universe called them. My questgiver also gave me some more Bonus Upgrades and other knicknacks as I was then sucked into some drama with a ship captain and his pet space whale. 

Either way I was stronger than ever, whistling happily as I looked at my most recent quest. 

Having lived on the fringes of society for a few weeks, I of course knew who the Ravagers were. Out in the wider world of…outer space, there were three main powers. One was the space force of whoever's territory you were in. With tax payer funded spaceships, if you crossed their paths you wanted to make sure you followed rules and had proper documentation. Otherwise you would be paying major taxes at least, at most you could lose your cargo. The perpetrators for this theft was typically the Kree, Shi’ar, or any other number of minor players in the universe. 

The next biggest power was the Pirates. There were quite a few groups of them. Staying in space they were always hunted. Most places didn’t want them around, but depending on how vast their crew was, you could lose your cargo or your life if you messed with them. 

The final major power was everyone else. From merchants that wanted to simply make a living all the way to the Ravagers. Not so much bad guys, but more like the guys that did gray area work, they were more my type. Basically a pirate crew with morals; the Ravagers stuck to certain territories and didn’t cross one another’s paths. With their own set of rules and regulations I was proud of myself for waiting so long in life to join a gang. 

“You seem to be in a good mood,” Tabi said as she woke up from her nap. 

“Well I did kick that guy’s ass a bit ago,” I said. 

Apparently one of the many things Weston did before jumping away from Marvel originally besides leaving me to figure out his mess, was piss off the Shi’ar. I wasn’t exactly sure why, but their Imperial Guards were on the hunt for me. I had been attacked out of the blue twice by this point. The first time I was forced to run away, but earlier that day I beat one. I didn’t kill him, but it was good to know I was getting stronger. 

“You got lucky he was weak to your Hoken,” she said. 

“Whatever,” I said. “Besides, now we get to join our own pirate crew.”

“I thought you said they weren’t pirates,” Tabi said.

“Same thing,” I said with a shrug as a door opened. Inside walked a beautiful woman. She actually looked mostly human. With black hair, two eyes, no nose, wide mouth, and wearing some weathered armor she felt rather normal to me. 

“Is this it?” She asked with a frown as she looked around the empty room. 

“Just me,” I said, trying not to act offended. 

“Well, we have been here a while,” the woman said. “Come in.” I nodded and walked into the room. It was about what I expected. A steel table on one side of the room it was rather small. A human looking man with green skin stared at me. He had a bowl cut and wore the space equivalent to a business suit. No tie, the jacket was strapped in tight and his shiny shoes reflected in the dimly lit room. 

“Hello,” the man said, his haki telling me he was genuinely happy to see me. I knew he didn’t know me, but I got the impression of a dog from him. As if he was happy to meet anyone. The woman next to him hurrumpfed and plopped down in the chair beside him. She looked a lot more rough, with armored leathers for clothes she put a sneer on her face as she leaned back in the chair. 

“Hello,” I repeated to the man. 

With a nod the green skinned captain said, “My name is Wallum Piker. I am the captain of the local Ravager Union.”

“Ravager’s have a union?” I asked, confused. 

“Oh yes, we are a union,” he said as if that explained everything. He had a smile on his lips, content to talk excitedly about the Ravagers. “I find myself in the need of a new crewman. What is your name?”

“Weston Walker,” I said, crossing my arms. 

With a nod he pointed at a chair across from the table he sat behind. Hesitantly I walked over and sat down. So close to them I knew I wasn’t in any real danger, but didn’t want to piss them off. Ravagers ruled this airspace. Without a local government to patrol, they were the defacto police. Which wasn’t a good thing since laws weren’t really a thing, thus punishments weren’t written in stone. If you were caught doing something bad, the punishment depended on which Ravager caught you.  

“Where are you from, Weston?” Wallum asked. 

“A place called Earth. I’m actually trying to get back to-”

The woman rolled her eyes and Wallum chuckled. “Sorry, I’ll have to stop you there. Kind of inside joke. Every few weeks it seems we get some new recruit saying they need to get back home. Trust me, if people knew your planet, your people would be out in the universe.” I opened my mouth but shut it. I had received the same answer from most everyone I asked. They had no idea where Earth was. Which to be honest was fine with me. I didn’t need to get back anytime soon. I was having fun carving my own life away from my old shadow. 

“What do you want?” The woman barked. 

Wallum chuckled at my annoyed glance at her. “Sorry, this is my vice-captain. Weston meet, Ly Cobb. He’s one of the fiercest men you’ll ever meet. Treat his orders like my own.” 

I wanted to clarify why the captain said ‘him’, but a scan with my Observation Haki told me that she had a dick. Though she looked rather feminine my mind immediately switched to thinking of her as off limits. I wouldn’t have survived this far if some weird species threw me off. 

“I was hoping to join the Ravagers,” I admitted, answering Ly’s original question. 

“What do you want out of it?” Ly asked, still annoyed. I felt like I was being interviewed by a cat and dog. 

“I want to get home. Earn some money. Join a crew,” I said, trying to gauge what best to say. 

“Join a crew?” The captain asked, perking up. “What do you mean by that?” His haki said he resonated with that somehow. I couldn’t help but channel my own dream of sailing the black sea of the final frontier. 

“I’ve been off my home world for a while. Don’t get me wrong, I want to get home, but I also love it out here. The adventure of it all,” I said truthfully. 

The female/dude Ly rolled her eyes as she grumbled, “Here we go.” The optimistic Wallum ate the words up. 

“It is an adventure, isn’t it?” He asked, practically beaming me aboard their ship already. 

“Yeah, theres always something to learn and do. I get to see all these weird people and places. It’s something I’ve grown to love,” I admitted. Which again was true. There was a reason Space Operas were so loved. When there weren’t enough adventures on your home world, there was always somewhere else. 

“Well I’ve heard all I need to hear,” Wallum said, a wide smile on his face. 

“Hold your engines,” Ly growled. “You hear about someone’s dreams and suddenly you’re giving them your bunk to take over. We need to do some background work.”

“I don’t really have a background in space,” I said. 

“See, it’ll be fine. I can tell, this one is different.” 

“Which is why I’m here,” Ly said. “I’m not getting another Illier seven on our hands. We check references, blood type, hell even reproductive methods if we have to.”

“I’m sorry,” I said, raising my hand. “Do you really go that far? Aren’t you guys, like pirates?“ I asked. Their attitude changed instantly. One thing I knew about these people is they did not like to be compared to pirates. But if I was going to join up with them I wanted to make sure they were on the up and up. Quest or not, I wasn’t up for raping and only a little pillaging. 

“We are waaay different than pirates,” Wallum said. 

“We are a little different than pirates,” Ly corrected. 

“Ly,” Wallum rebuked. “It really depends on the captain, and the job. Out in the Fringe, where there are no space cops. It’s all kind of a gray area. The Ravagers as a whole, we are pretty neutral. Me, I like to stick to the jobs that aren’t good or bad. We each have our own territory, and inside we do as we will. If you don’t like it, you can move to another group. If you step out of bounds…” 

“Your gods help you,” Ly said, cracking his knuckles. Though her melodic voice didn’t help the matter. 

“Sounds like pirating to me,” I said with a shrug. 

“Well trust me, it’s different,” Wallum said. “I have passes for the Shi’ar and Kree space. Good luck seeing a pirate with those. Besides, we have rules.”

“One rule, really,” Ly added. 

“What’s that?” I asked, pretty confident I knew what it was. 

“No kids,” They said as one. 

“No kids what?” I asked. 

“Just, don’t mess with kids,” Wallum said as if it were that simple. 

I frowned. “So like if we do something and it has the potential to inadvertently hurt kids, we don’t do it?” 

“Not exactly,” the captain said, looking to his first mate. 

“If you see a kid involved, let em go,” he said. 

“What if its a bad guy that looks like a kid?” I asked. 

“How’s that possible?” Wallum asked. 

“Maybe they have that Benjamin Button disease or don’t age. Or like a dwarf people?” I asked rapidly. 

“Hmm,” the captain said as he thought. I liked him already. A little immature, he seemed genuinely interested in discussing the moral dilemma. “Maybe if they-”

“Enough,” Ly barked. “We are doing the interview here. Moving fucking on to the more important questions. We are a tight nit group, Weston. You look rather young too, how much experience do you have? What can you bring to our Ravager group?”

“Like skills?” I asked, they nodded. “I can fly.” 

“Woopty doo,” she spat. 

“Uhh I can create portals…kind of. I’m getting the hang of it still, but my trusty talking cat is helping me,” I said. I pet Tabi and she refused to speak of course. The duo in front of me gave the cat and I a look that said I wasn’t exactly at the top of their list of candidates if I claimed to have a talking cat. 

“I can hold stuff in storage at least,” I said. I opened a Rift into my own separate dimension that had a bunch of oddities. They seemed interested but not sold on it. “I can survive in space. Without like a space suit.”

“Really, that is interesting,” Wallum said. “How do you do it? Do you make oxygen or hold your breath?”

“Hold my breath,” I said.

“That is a bonus," Wallum admitted. “How long can you hold it? Hours? Days?” 

“A while,” I admitted, not forced to check it as of yet. 

“Well prove it,” he said. Not much other way to do it I sucked in a lungful of air. My cheeks ballooning out the captain pointed at me. “Ly, plug his nose, I don’t want to find out they were cheating again.” 

The hot man got up with a grumble. Holding my nose, Tabi yawned and walked away. Content to let me lie in the bed I’d made for myself. Eventually I hoped to remember the cooler powers when people asked for a show. For now I was content to wait. Besides, Tabi always told me, I shouldn’t reveal all my powers at the start.