Shoveling food into my mouth as fast as I could. As soon as one of Shippie’s many drones dropped off a plate I was nearly done with it. Hungrier than I thought possible, I felt like I was preparing for a fight in Luffy’s favorite way. 

Drax next to me he was trying to eat just as quickly, as if we were in a race. Another tiny whirring drone dropping off a plate between us. I grabbed it before he could, but he took the chicken-like leg off and began eating it like corn on the cob. 

“It’s not a fucking race,” I said between bites.

“Right, because I’m win-” Drax cut off as he began to choke. The man turning completely blue I ignored his plight as Rocket dumped a crate of metallic cylinders onto the table. 

“I’m eating,” I groaned. 

“Doesn’t matter, I gotta sort this crap,” he said, sniffing and licking the exterior of the cylinders as if that was the only way to tell what they contained.

“Easy there,” Quill said, pounding on Drax’s back as the big man coughed up a full bone. His red tattoos almost glowing as he caught his breath. 

“I nearly died,” he said. “I submit.” He bowed his head to me slightly, but his haki said he would look for something else to challenge me at. 

“We weren’t racing!” I said. He and I had fought at the prison, and I narrowly won. Now though I was pretty sure I could take him easily in a fight. With all my skills, very few would be able to challenge me directly. I finished with the last plate and finally felt sated. My mind and body had felt like they expanded for some reason, needing a lot of calories to help fix whatever I had gone through. Either way, I was finally feeling myself again. 

“You have a history with Thanos, right?” I asked. 

“Yes, he killed my wife and daughter,” he said, getting serious. 

“You said that last time. In fact that’s all you said. What happened exactly?” I asked.

“His ships landed on my planet,” Drax said, rage filling him as his eyes turned bloodshot. “My people and I fought them off. He did some stuff and half of the people on the planet were killed.” He finished talking and didn’t elaborate from there. 

“That’s it?” Peter asked, looking to me for guidance. 

“Yeah, what the hell. How did he kill half the people?” I asked. I was fairly certain he was still looking for Infinity Gems, so I doubted Drax’s people just disappeared. 

“He put them to the sword,” Drax said, picking up the bone he had choked on and beginning to gnaw on it. His anger mostly gone, I could feel it smoldering at his center, but he suppressed it rather well. 

“Like real swords?” I asked, trying to picture it. “Everyone at once? So he had a soldier for exactly half of your planet’s population?”

“Well not real swords. He had this machine that whirred and booped.” He chewed the bone. “And I think it pshpshpsh,” he said, making the sound effect of someone calling a cat. “They all died indiscriminately. Exactly half.”

“What the fuck,” Blade said, unsure what was going on. 

“You shouldn’t talk about Thanos,” Nebula growled from the shadow of the mess hall.

“He’s not Bruno,” I said as if they would understand, but none did. Well all but Drax, he cracked a smile and laughed as if he knew who I was talking about. “How the hell are people supposed to prepare for him if you don’t talk about him?”

“There is no preparing for him,” Nebula said as she stepped closer to the large table. Crossing her arms, I could tell she had a flare for the dramatic, but was genuinely serious. “He is obsessed with life and death.”

“Not just death?” I asked, unsure of the distinction.

“No, both, the balance of it,” she said as if it were obvious. That strung a chord with me thanks to the Avenger movies. “You can’t have one without the other. If a planet is full of life he will either take all life, or leave exactly half of everything alive. No one knows why he does it or where he will strike next, but it is what fascinates him.” 

She scoffed, her haki telling me she was remembering things I didn’t want to know about. Very bad events that could only happen around those unlucky to be close to such a madman. “All of it may seem pointless to you and I, but it happens for a reason. All of it in search of what he wants?”

“The Infinity Gems?” I asked, causing Asterian and Nebula to pulse with the words. They knew more about them than they were letting on. No one else at the table registered the name. 

“Maybe,” Nebula said. “But it is all for a purpose. His obsession, fighting the perfect balance between life and death. It got so bad that-” She cut herself off. Trying not to say too much. 

“What?” I asked. 

Tears in her eyes she actually answered me. “It got so bad he did experiments on his subjects. Trying to find that moment between life and death that humanoids can withstand.”

“How does he do that?” Drax asked. “Like that pavlov’s dog you talked about Weston? Where its both living and dead?”

“That’s Shroedinger’s cat,” I said. “That’s more of a thought experiment though.”

“No,” she spat as if offended. “That moment between life and death. Where you could be both. His obsession got so bad he tested on his own children. Bringing them to the brink of death as he forcibly ripped parts off, testing how much could be taken before you were no longer human.” She was rubbing her arm. The one that was fake. An android or cyborg limb, it was a slightly different shade of blue than the rest of her. 

I nodded slowly, starting to understand. Rather than in the movies where she was altered to become stronger, she was altered to bring her to the precipice of death. Perhaps more of her mechanical rather than organic. I decided she had revealed enough for the time being. 

“What about you?” I asked Asterian. The man with the Nova Force staring at us from the edge of the room, he felt barely there. His haki like a little flame I knew he was stronger, but was an expert at keeping everything hidden. 

“What about me?” A male voice asked from inside the helmet.

“What’s your story? I’d prefer to get to know you before we arrive. Shippie? How long until we get to Chandilar?” 

“Eighty-six minutes,” the ship replied. We were in Null Space, which was up to Shippie to guide us through. Waiting until the fight it was time to do the classic heart to heart with the group of people that used to be enemies. 

“You heard him, we have time,” I said, giving Asterian my best smile. It took time, but eventually he stepped up and lifted off his helmet to reveal a very beautiful face.

Dark skin, it was almost shiny in the light of the mess hall. Dark black hair it cascaded down his face in waves. Two eyes, a nose, and mouth, I found myself asking, “You’re human?”

“No, Xandarian,” he said as if it was obvious. “I do not know what a human is.”

“Do all Xandarians look similar to you? What the hell, Rocket? Why did you always ask if I was Kree?” I asked.

“Because you look Kree,” he said, but his eyes were on the Xandarian. “Never seen a Xandarian with their helmet off. They always wear them.” I thought back to all the ones I saw on Harche, and it was true, they were all armored.

“It is frowned upon to show other races our faces,” Asterian said. “But many rituals state it is important to know the faces of your comrades, no matter how slim your bond is.” He eyed Nebula, his haki flaring slightly, but he felt truthful. 

“Are you planning on mating the Xandarian?” Drax asked me.

“Goddammit Double D, whats with you and mating?” I asked.

“You are the one that was all worried about dropping space soap in the space shower in space prison. I thought you were looking forward to it,” he said offended.

“It’s just a normal shower, Drax,” I grumbled. “But no, I’m not going to mate him. Just surprised there are a lot of people that look like me. Doesn’t matter I guess.” Positive that a lot of us shared ancestors; it was one of those mysteries not worth digging into. Besides, the Xandarian’s may have different skin tones than just Asterian’s. Maybe they had green skin, making them different from the Kree too. 

“So what is your story, Asterian? What can you do?” I asked. 

“I can fight,” he said with a nod, putting his red and gold helmet back on. Like some high tech knight I considered putting on my Shi’ar armor as well. “But flying and shooting beams is simple enough for you to understand.”

“But you have the Nova Force right?” I asked. 

“I…do,” he admitted. “I am surprised you have heard of it.” He said the statement like a question, but I ignored him. 

Instead I mentally counted all of the people with Forces I had met. Carl Danvers with the Cosmic Force, that Anne Marie had kind of stolen. At least partly stolen since he was recovering last I saw him. Now the Nova Force with Asterian. And of course the Phoenix Force with Jean Grey.

Unsure if Delilah had sapped any of the Force with her I hoped what I imagined was going on proved false. The last thing I wanted was to drag her into whatever bird worship the Shi’ar had. Especially if Thanos and Ronan were involved. Either way we needed to get there faster. Happy with at least a little backstory from everyone I stood and ordered Shippie to speed it up. I had a damsel to save, and I hated being late. 

—

“3…2…1,” Shippie stated and the white screen turned black as we left Null Space. Stars dotting the view I turned the ship to face the direction guidance said Chandilar was. As the ship veered toward it a battle was revealed straight ahead. 

“Holy shit,” Rocket said as he pushed buttons on his own screen. Adding more views to the main screen he pointed information out as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “The Shi’ar are on the offensive, but it looks like they’re losing. At least three of their massive ships have gone dark.” The screen showed wreckage of the ships I recognized as Shi’ar. I had hijacked two of them during my escape. One for me, another for the X-men and other side characters. It looked like they had another eight that were blasting lasers at the ships the Osiris sent out to take on the Xandarians. 

“How are they losing?” Quill asked as I opened the comms. We started hearing the commotion of the Shi’ar ships and Thanos’ fleet. 

“That’s the capital of Chandilar,” Rocket said as he zoomed in. “You see that big ugly ship parked there? That’s the Osiris. Right below that is the palace of the Shi’ar Majestrix.” 

“Lilandra Naramoni herself,” I said, trying to take it all in. It looked like Nebula was right. Thanos’ flag ship, controlled by Ronan, had been taking on the Shi’ar. He must have taken a little break to either kidnap Nebula while she was in prison, or keep Delilah from being taken to the Shi’ar, I wasn’t sure which. Either way, I had most of the information I needed. 

The planet itself was as I remembered. Though I saw more than a few massive ships having crash landed onto the planet, it was still going at least. Probably a major contingent of Thanos’ war party, I prayed he wasn’t there himself. Whatever I heard about Ronan being strong, Thanos was said to be on a whole other level. 

“Doesn’t matter,” I said. Extending my Observation Haki as far as possible, I still couldn’t feel Delilah. “Get us closer, Shippie.”

“Captain, we could be caught in the cross hairs between-”

“I know, Ship,” I said. “Get us closer though.” A massive battle going on directly above the capital of Chandilar, they were right between us and where I needed to go. Delilah or not, I felt responsible for what was going on over the Shi’ar homeworld. Though they kidnapped and threatened me, Lilandra had been alright at least. For a royal anyway. 

Shippie began to get closer. Shifting the exterior of the ship to black, we hopefully wouldn’t be noticed, but since a battle was going on, I was sure everyone was on high alert. 

“Do you think Shadree got to the planet?” I asked Nebula, who was standing beside me.

“She could have. Last I spoke to her she was checking out one of our tug boats,” she said. “Its supposed to drag the Betelguese during overhauls. Small, but powerful. It has some cloaking too. Not to mention her power.”

“Yeah, something with shadows, right?” I mumbled. She had been one of the people to kick my ass when my arm was cut off. If only forgetful me had known, he would have known not to trust her. 

The ship drawing ever closer I could almost feel I was right. Shadree had taken Delilah and the Mind Gem. As if some power was able to reach me from the planet’s surface, I could feel it getting ever stronger as we approached.

Suddenly a red beam was shot from the Shi’ar side. Shippie took control and dropped down, narrowly missing the beam. “Captain, the enemies have spotted us,” Shippie said. As he did, three small ships from Thanos’ side turned to face us. 

“Rocket, load your bombs. Shippie, Captain’s Chair,” I said. There was a long drawn out silence from the ship, then suddenly a panel above slid away. A large chair descending from it, there were articulating hoses connected to it, making the chair look far more menacing than it was. Nebula moved out of the way of the falling chair. I stood from my normal spot, watching the chair until it descended to the floor then locked in place. 

Larger than the other chairs, it laid in a reclined position rather than straight-backed like the others. Instead of rigid poles holding it up there were metal hoses that freefloated from the panel opening above. 

“What the shit is that?” Blade asked.

“Get out of my mind, I was going to ask the same thing,” Drax said.

“We all were,” Peter said.

“Not again,” Rocket growled, but ran off to load his bombs up. 

“If you hadn’t noticed, this ship is special,” I said, taking off my black hoodie. “Old, powerful, and with a lot of shit. Whatever you do, don’t touch me, alright,” I said. Sitting on the chair it was cool to the touch, like the last time I tried sitting in it. Unlike then, I was confident that I could make it work. 

Another metallic hose snaking down from above this one had a white helmet hanging from it. “Time for Ulta-Megazord,” I mumbled as the helmet dropped to dangle in front of my face. “No wait, a Gundam,” I said as I took the helmet and put it on. 

Total darkness meeting me for a second, my view blinked with the text -Hello captain, good to have you back- 

“Yeah, yeah, Shippie,” I said, my voice echoing inside the helmet. “Captain override, full systems. Voice confirmation, I’m a little teacup, short and stout.”

“Granted,” Shippie said in my ear and it all went black.

 
No more light leaking in from the bottom of the helmet, darkness crept around me and I felt weightless for a moment. All sensation from my body gone, I felt seconds tick away, but knew they were merely milliseconds. Waiting for it to happen, I was ready this time as the ship and I became one. 

My body tingling all over I could now feel everything Shippie felt, or at least how I imagined he felt at least. Instead of limbs I had drones and a few articulating arms and landing gear. Instead of a body I had a hull. Instead of fists I had lasers and missiles. Instead of eyes I had cameras. 

Everything assaulted me all at once, but instead of rejecting it like I had the last time Shippie tried to coax me into the Captain’s Chair. I accepted all of it. Taking it all in stride as the ship bombarded me with everything all at once. 

“Shift all facility controls to Shippie,” I said.

“Acknowledged,” Shippie said as I lost awareness of the interior of the ship. Less information to process I decided to keep control of everything else. Registering it all as I opened exterior hatches, moved viewports of lasers, and brought every single camera viewport to fill my view in the empty space of the Captain’s Chair. 

Some kind of linking method between a captain and ship, it was only a little gay in my book. Inside Shippie most of the time, I was now beside him as he controlled everything from the digital superhighway that was his domain. 

“Good to have you, captain,” Shippie said. I couldn’t see him, but could feel him like a hovering ghost, ready to take control if I failed again. 

“Good to be here,” I said. Focusing on the three ships heading toward us, I watched them as if they were moving in slow motion. My brain moving at a mile a minute I felt my body’s face twist into a grin. The body itself a million miles away in my perception, the ship pulsed as if alive, ready for action. 

“I knew you fucking lied about how much gas we had,” I mumbled as I noticed we were at about 75% full on power. Shippie didn’t respond though. 

“Would you like a refresher on how to-” Shippie offered. 

“No, I remember…everything,” I said, still ecstatic at my most recent memory gain. Despite my last attempt at the Captain’s Chair, everything made sense to me now. The ship a part of me like never before I was confident I could do this. 

“Hold on,” I announced to the crew. My voice coming from speakers around the interior of the ship rather than my own mouth. Making more chairs pop up around the bridge. Enough for everyone, I warned, “Hold onto your butts.” With that I fired up the ship’s engines and the G-force hit everyone but me. 

Shippie having taken it easy on us, I hit the power to full and we were at the front lines in two full seconds. People yelling at me from the bridge I ignored them as I pushed my Observation Haki to the maximum. Able to feel everything within a mile of myself, I closed my eyes as I didn’t have to rely on the viewports anymore. 

A laser heading in our way I shifted the engine to point us up, we shot straight up, dodging it with ease as a volley was let out toward us. Ships hailing us, trying to figure out whose side we were on, it was answered for them as I let a ribbon laser go, cutting one of Thanos’ ships in half. 

Already past the exploding ship, another dozen turned to face me, but I was already at the center of them. Sending three missiles into them and some of Rocket’s boom sticks, at such close range they couldn’t react. Instead they exploded, causing a chain reaction of explosions in a ring around me.

“Destroy that ship!” One of the Thanos guys said.

“Protect that ship!” A Shi’ar person sent out. So I did what I could. Carving a path toward the planet I helped Shi’ar, and exploded Thanos’ people. No longer on the run I was the one attacking now. Sending missiles to lasers, to a gift package of Rocket’s own devising out, destroying everything from small single person ships to one of the large shipping ships that sent out other ships to do the fighting.

My path littered with the dead and dying behind me. I was in and out of the main battle within five minutes. Descending to the planet everyone on the bridge was screaming or puking up their lunch. Drax especially was painting the inner walls of the bridge with his most recent meal. 

Uncaring about it I shot into the clouds and through them. Taking in the Osiris just ahead I zoomed around the massive ship as a laser on the hull began to fire at me. Ignoring them as they traced a trail of destruction behind me I came around the ship to find a very special spot to land.

It was a massive arena. One sitting on the outskirts of the palace itself. The grass around it still scorched from my own previous landing there I zoomed in, letting the ship land right on the fighting floor.

“Captain’s Chair end,” I said and I almost felt Shippie sigh in relief as the darkness turned light and I took the helmet off. 

Revealed to me now was as I had seen from Shippie’s view. People hunched over, either passed out from the rapid speed I had gone, or doubled over as they dry heaved. Even Asterian had taken off his helmet to puke as I sat up in the chair and scooted off. As soon as I was off the chair it was pulled back up to the hatch above. 

“I told you guys, I’m a good driver,” I assured them as I let out a smile.