LETTERS FROM THE SKY

By Gavin McMahon

Now
Debrief Log: Major Victory
(Vance Astro, Time-Displaced Human, Psychokinesis and Combat Genius)

An attractive man with messy brown hair and a chiselled jaw line shuffled his way onto the camera as he looked first at it awkwardly and then distracted himself with the floor. He lifted one of his large hands to his mouth as he coughed loudly, sighing a little. After a few moments of distracting himself, he turned with his hazel eyes and stared straight into the camera.

“I don’t remember how,” he said clearly. “But this wasn’t where I expected to end up.”

Three Days Ago
Unknown Location, Antarctica

The skies blurred a bright orange as a body hurled into the snow.

Wind swept across the barren white landscape relentlessly as the dark blue figured tried to push his way out of the cocoon that had covered him in the instants he had been still. It was unusual for anyone to be in the Antarctic, but it was even more unusual for such a person to be dressed as bizarrely as the man was.

He, for it was obviously a man, wore a skin-tight blue jumpsuit with a dark blue on the top and bottom, but there were two spears coming in from his shoulders to meet at his chest that were a whiter blue that was almost invisible in the snow. His gloves matched the dark blue whilst his leggings and boots matched the paler of the two.

Shivering slightly as the cold gripped him, he looked around.

Leaning into a snowdrift, the man pulled out a circular device and wiped it down revealing it to be a shield. In the time he had come from the shield was iconic, it had been used as a weapon by Captain America long before he had even been born. The American flag was clear on it and even the sight of it brought a smile to his lips.

Throwing the shield to the ground, the man recollected himself as he sprinted forward before giving a small jump. As he landed inside the shield, he used his hands to direct it forwards and upwards causing himself to rise. The man kneeled in and grabbed the edge of the shield, there were large blank spots in his memory but he did remember two things.

“Guardians,” he murmured as he rushed through the wind. “Knowhere.”

Bobcat’s Den
Hanoi, Vietnam

Looking down at the drink that she’d been stirring for the past five minutes, the attractive brunette woman sighed.

Her eyes drifted from the drink to the peculiar watch she wore, it was the only reason she could drink and work in the town. An image inducer, courtesy of Tony Stark and the Avengers, helped her hide her true identity. She tapped it lightly with her finger. The Avengers look after their own, she thought.

Mantis had retired. She was just Amanda Powell now.

In truth, she didn’t consider herself an Avenger anymore. She hadn’t for awhile but she knew it was a title she would never lose. Not now that she was considered an honorary Avenger. Kansas a few weeks ago has really set her place in the hall of fame. She hadn’t even needed to die for that honour like some of the other Avengers she could name.

Amanda just had to lose her son.

A long time ago she had been told she’d be the Celestial Madonna. She’d laughed at the idea. A reformed prostitute had seemed so absurd but the prophecy had followed her like a plague. The Cotati had never been far behind, and when it had all seemed to come true she’d been pursued for months until they caught up with her and killed Sequoia. She had no memories of his death, and she was thankful for that.

She fluttered her hazel eyes towards the bartender as he stood watching her, a glass in one hand and a cloth in the other. It was his smile that burned her to the soul as she looked away from him.

Once was bad enough but to be in this situation twice in her life wasn’t worth thinking about.

The bartender, Patrick, was also the owner and he’d helped her out after finding her on the streets. As he came to meet her at the bar, he leaned across it. His eyes looked up and down every crevice of her pale, Caucasian body and she felt sick to the stomach. He didn’t know who she really was, not that it would matter, and she knew she would’ve just been a piece of meat to him.

“Amanda darlin’,” the man drawled in his lazy English accent as he winked at her. “You’re up.”

“This one is aware of that,” she retorted, shame in her husky voice.

“Then get started,” he pushed at her. “Lose the coat, toot sweep.”

Amanda pushed herself off the chair as she looked at the men around her. She pulled the grey trench coat from her shoulders and let it fall to the ground as she looked at them in distaste. Her hazel eyes were hurting, but none of these men noticed as she walked forward in her stringy white bikini top and pants.

They wolf whistled and she realised she was beautiful, but she didn’t want to earn her beauty this way.

Not everyone can be a princess, she thought as she reached out and wrapped her hand around the smooth, cold poll before allowing herself to swing around it.

Observation Deck, Knowhere
The Rip, End of the Universe

The Starjammers had been great, really hospitable but while Rocket Raccoon may have been a lot of things, he was aware that a space pirate wasn’t one of them. Not that he would ever admit that. He’d been a man, or anthropomorphic raccoon, of the law back in his home world of Halfworld. Even if that planet was long behind him, he didn’t want to revert to being a criminal but he was a tough raccoon and a resourceful one too.

“C’mon,” he groaned to the large green man behind him.

Drax the Destroyer hadn’t wanted to stay on the ship any longer. He was a wanted man by the Shi’ar Imperium and unfortunately Corsair had to place his crew first so when Drax had refused to stay, there had been little argument amongst them. Thanks to the mysterious stranger back on Hala, he had lost his memories and his powers were greatly diminished. Rocket had yet to see the latter.

Knowhere was something new and slightly bizarre but it had been a safe drop off point for the Starjammers and it was ideal for Rocket and Drax who had nowhere else to turn. A base found inside the severed head of a Celestial. It wasn’t exactly the most pleasant of places to be but it was like most other ports. Slightly more commercialised.

Although he hadn’t agreed to care for Drax, who was calling himself Arthur, Rocket now felt compelled to. The man was lost, confused and he had no one else to turn to but he was getting frustrated with Drax’s refusals to be ‘manhandled’ by a ‘talking raccoon’.

Rocket had been a police chief; he wasn’t just a ‘talking raccoon.’

His nose twitched slightly as his beady black eyes looked from one bizarre alien to another. He moved along the observation deck like a curious child as he stopped at the barrier that separated the deck and space. Rocket entangled his spindly figures around the patterns in the barrier as he looked through the slightly reflective dome around them and saw spacetime.

“I cannot believe I’m in space,” Drax said simply, his eyes wide and remorseful. “I was in the Mojave Desert and then I can’t remember.”

Drax turned to look at Rocket.

Pushing Drax’s leg out of his way, Rocket waltzed forward. “Look, for the umpteenth time I don’t know what happened to your wife and kid.”

Rocket marched through the crowd as Drax slowly looked back towards the Rip in spacetime. He was living a life he had never thought of but more importantly, a life he had never wanted.

Entrance to Hades
Cumae, Italy

“Persephone,” cooed the shrill voice before the woman was seen.

Overweight and wearing traditional Grecian robes as she tumbled over the ruins of what had once been Greek temples. Although humanity may have changed their maps, the Gods hadn’t changed theirs.

Demeter, Goddess of the Earth, froze as her hands shot to her mouth and she cried. As Persephone stumbled from the crevice that led to Hades, she rolled her eyes at her mother. It was like this every year when she saw her for those six months. As she exited the shade of the crevice, Persephone’s hair shimmered from a raven black to a blonde as her smile brightened and she brought spring to the world.

It was with her daughter’s presence, or absence, that Demeter judged the seasons. Lurching forward Demeter grabbed the young woman and she pulled her into her arms tightly while the girl merely smiled.

“Mother,” she greeted the elderly woman, who looked youthful in the company of others but was outdone by her own flesh and blood.

Undoubtedly, Persephone was one of the most beautiful Goddesses. Her beauty had been met with Aphrodite’s rage and with several of the Gods courtships but her mother had sheltered her, and therefore she had been somewhat naive and foolish when Hades had kidnapped her. She wasn’t that girl anymore, thousands of years ticked by like days but she had learned her lesson.

Her bust fluctuated as she breathed heavily, making her way towards the walls of the abandoned ruins.

Persephone sat like a lady as she adjusted her long green dress to accentuate her curves. She pouted slightly as she ran her fingers along the pale, uneven stone. Flowers sprouted from her touch as they wormed their way to life through the cracks. Plucking one from its bed, Persephone placed it in her hair.

Demeter’s eyes fell lazily upon the entrances to Hades.

“Persephone, my love,” she urged for her attention. “Let’s away from here.”

She looked at her mother with sorrow, her emerald eyes ablaze.

“I can’t leave with you,” she whispered as she looked away, fearing the contact of her stare.

“Do not be ridiculous,” her mother reminded her, dumbstruck. “It is but the first day spring. You are mine until the autumn.”

There was silence as Demeter clenched her fists.

“If Hades has a problem,” her voice boomed in anger. “He should face me like a man. I will bring this up with Zeus…”

“This isn’t about Hades,” snapped Persephone, growing impatient with not only her mother but herself. “This is about me. Mother, you’re a Goddess. You have to believe in destiny?”

She was hopeful but her mother was unapproachable.

“I do,” replied her mother stoutly as she folded her arms.

“Well then, believe what I’m going to tell you is my destiny,” urged the beautiful blonde as she rested her hands on her mother’s arms.

“Which is?”

“To be a hero. To follow in the footsteps of Ares and Hercules,” Persephone began as she smiled meekly at her mother.

“Your destiny, my child,” Demeter sighed as she rubbed her daughter’s cheek. “Is to spend eternity shifting between this world, and Hades, and nothing more. Leave the heroism to Ares and Hercules, my petal.”

“Don’t you see?” snapped Persephone as she jolted backwards, away from her mother. “I will not be the victim anymore.”

Persephone backed away from her mother as she looked at her in anger. Her green dress that clung so tightly too her upper body flowed around her legs as she made her way towards the centre of the ruins.

“Persephone,” spoke her mother sternly as she tightened her folded arms.

The Goddess of Spring came to a sudden stop, her back to her mother

“My flower,” soothed her mother as she started towards her but she too stopped at a distance.

Persephone was looking at her, like the scared little girl that she had once been. Her eyes blazed with tears.

“Don’t you see?” she choked to her mother. “All my life I’ve been a victim.”

“Perseph…”

“No longer,” said the Goddess in a whisper before raising her voice. “Never again.”

She clenched her fists as she muttered something inaudible in ancient Greek before allowing herself to be overcome by a surge of power. Shooting her fist into the air she finished the enchantment and the swell of power blasted from her hand and absorbed her in a mass of green light.

Demeter stood alone. Stubborn pride marked across her large cheeks as she narrowed her eyes, refusing to play her daughter’s games and void of emotion. Turning after a few moments she walked towards the entrance of hell and her body shimmered from sight, becoming one with the air.

Galdhøpiggen, Scandinavia

Even as the cold wind battered against his somewhat horse-like face the man towered over the valley like a force of lightning.

“I was told I might find you here,” called a voice from behind him. “I was also told you could be of some use to me.”

Tightening his grip around Stormbreaker, the Korbinite warrior swung around to face the person to address him. It was a man he hadn’t seen before, he wore an unusual blue bodysuit and he carried the shield that belonged to Captain America over his arm. Immediately, Beta Ray Bill sprung to action as he offensively forced Stormbreaker down upon the man.

It smashed into the man’s shield before he found himself dispelled by an unseen force.

As his temper rose, Bill swung Stormbreaker at the man’s feet but he dodged it and with a snap movement he caught the man’s throat as he smashed him into the snow encrusted mountain as he yelped. Glaring down on the man he had captured, he held Stormbreaker above his head.

“Who are you and what do you?” growled the Korbinite. “I want the truth, or by the blood of Odin I will kill you.”

“Okay, okay!” snapped Major Victory as he held his hands up in surrender. “God.”

“I am no God,” replied the warrior with a bewildered expression.

“That’s not what I…” groaning in exasperation he continued. “My name is Vance Astro. I go by Major Victory.”

The creature appeared to analyse him.

“Who told you where to find me?” enquired the inquisitive Bill.

As Bill let go of him, Major Victory returned to his feet.

Now
Debrief Log: Beta Ray Bill
(Korbinite Warrior, Superhuman Enhancements, Regeneration and possessor of Stormbreaker)

Shifting uneasily as he looked at the camera, the beast known as Beta Ray Bill looked towards the camera and smiled awkwardly.

“I can be a little trigger happy I suppose,” he confessed as he scratched behind his ear with a gloved hand.

Three Days Ago
Galdhøpiggen, Scandinavia

“I went to see the Avengers first,” Major Victory informed him. “I announced all I knew to them in hopes they could help me and they couldn’t. They didn’t have the man-power, but they told me to find you, among others, and see if you could help me.”

Bill seemed interested as his ears perked up. It was an unusual sight to behold as Major Victory was so used to the costume of Thor but to see it on the magnificent creature before him was an experience. One he hadn’t expected, but he wasn’t sure what he’d expected. Amnesia had that affect. Or at least that was what he had been told.

“Why do you need help?” enquired Beta Ray Bill.

“I need to find Knowhere,” replied the man in the blue bodysuit.

The Korbinite merely raised his eyebrows.

“Nowhere is not a place,” replied the alien warrior. “Therefore, searching for it is a futile waste of time.”

Major Victory found himself smiling somewhat slyly. He had managed to remember one small detail about the place known as, Knowhere.

“What if Knowhere isn’t on Earth?”

Now
Starlin’s, Knowhere
The Rip, End of the Universe

It was a bar.

Drax had been left in a room they had purchased; Rocket had come to the conclusion that even Drax couldn’t cause harm to himself or anyone else if he stayed there. It would also help him avoid detection from anyone who they didn’t want to see him. Rocket on the other hand would search around the ship and familiarise himself with it. Their stay was indefinite.

The bar had caught his attention.

In ways it was similar to those back on Hala, he noted as he entered through the sturdy door, and it brought back fond memories for the anthropomorphic raccoon as he smiled shiftily upon entering. There was nothing like the rush of a good old bar fight. It made him feel alive, not that the Starjammers had offered any dull moments in the past few weeks.

Pressing his hand into the cushion of the bar stool he lifted himself off the ground in a jump and landed square on it. It was easy to be such an athlete when you barely reach two feet. He smashed his small paw against the wooden counter as yelled for a pint.

A tentacle passed him his request and he looked up at the gypsy woman with her tight black curls, Hispanic features and her beautiful eyes. Rocket would have assumed her to be a Terran had she not possessed four arms and four legs, which were seemingly like tentacles. She moved with fluidity, every movement was enticing as she moved towards him.

“That’s on me sweetheart,” she smiled at him as she leaned over the bar. “What’s your name cutie?”

“Rocket,” replied the raccoon.

“Paloma,” replied the woman as a tentacle reached out for what he assumed was a handshake and another caressed his cheek.

As her attention was summoned from elsewhere on the bar, the Fld’Dbi woman slithered off towards the other customers with another wink of her bright green eyes.

Maybe there was more to life than bar fights?

“Hey,” yelled a voice from behind him. “Look at the talkin’ freak.”

Or maybe not.

One Day Ago
Bobcat’s Den
Hanoi, Vietnam

Slinking her way down the poll, every movement made her realise how worthless she really was. Amanda Powell, the alien Mantis, had born the saviour and she had lost everything in trying to protect him. She had been an Avenger. After spending her early life in the gutter, prostitution had seemed like such an old memory. One that was faded to black.

As she slid from the poll, Mantis made her way towards her coat and she slid back into it she felt the crowd’s eyes on her and then the more tangible expression. A tap on her shoulder, she turned around and rolled off the same thing she said numerous times after her little peep show.

“Sorry, this one does not do private shows,” she said, her voice sounding mechanical.

Her eyes widened when she realised who the tap had come from. A man who wore a full blue bodysuit, it was peculiar to say the least but given her true identity she had learned to accept people for individualistic traits. She gave a brief smile as she brushed past him.

“Mantis wait…” he stuttered after her.

“Excuse me?” she replied as she turned to face the peculiar man, tightening the belt around her trench coat.

Now
Debrief Log: Mantis
(Amanda Powell, Celestial Madonna, Empath, Telepath, Pyrokinetic among others)

Sliding into the seat before the camera, she tucked a strand of her long black hair behind one of her almost pointed ears. Mantis was in her true form, complete with her bright green skin and antennae. She gave a small smile as she looked into the camera.

“Perhaps this one can be a little intimidating,” she admitted as she flushed a little. “But she was provoked.”

Tilting her head to the side, Mantis offered a shrug in return for her actions.

One Day Ago
Bobcat’s Den
Hanoi, Vietnam

Standing with her hands on her hips, he would be lying if he said he hadn’t been intimidated. Her eyes blazed with fire as she walked towards him.

“How did you know that name?” she hissed at him.

“We have a mutual friend,” started Major Victory but he was interrupted.

“I’m not interested in your excuses Major,” she replied as she walked past him and through the doors. “It’s just unfortunate this one was unable to see you coming.”

It took him a few moments to realise she had addressed him by his codename, and then he remembered that he had known a ‘Mantis’ once and she had been a powerful telepath. It wasn’t such a long stretch to believe that this one may be one also. With the sound of a rifle being loaded caught his attention turned towards the bartender, who cocked a gun at him.

“I’m going, I’m going,” he assured them, albeit angrily, as he marched from the building. “Redneck hicks.”

It was a country that had suffered more than most and the Korbinite Beta Ray Bill felt that he could sympathise with that. It had survived numerous wars, much like the war with Surtur which had destroyed the world he viewed as his own. Despite the fact that Bill had been created genetically rather than born on the planet, he viewed the long lost Korbin as his home.

Looking at the small village only slightly further down, and the dense forest that surrounded the bar he realised that was all he was able to remember of Korbin.

It had been decided that he would accompany Major Victory on his mission to find Knowhere but Bill had already decided the task was pointless. It was his understanding that everyone and everything had to be somewhere so ‘Knowhere’ couldn’t possibly exist. Nevertheless, Beta Ray Bill had found his place on the roof of the establishment upon arrival.

Bill had spent so long simply wanting the demise of Surtur that he hadn’t ever embraced another passion.

When a young woman exited the bar, his eyes followed her and Major Victory exited not so long afterwards.

“Take your beast with you when you leave,” she reminded him with a small smile, as she stood with her hands in her pockets looking over her shoulder at them.

“I need your help,” he once again began as he felt the ground vibrate under Bill’s pounce who had just joined him.

“Beast,” the Korbinite growled, as he narrowed his eyes at the woman.

“This one won’t be giving it,” she informed him. “This one has a life here, and it’s all this one has left.”

“You haven’t heard my proposal yet,” snorted Major Victory in proposal.

“Hasn’t she?” replied the woman as she flicked a switch on her watch.

Major Victory and Beta Ray Bill watched as the woman who stood ahead of them slowly shimmered into existence. Her skin speckled in transition from Caucasian to a pale green as her antennae sprouted from her head, and when she was herself, Mantis was clearly an alien. Much unlike the last time she had walked the Vietnamese soil.

“Was this one as you expected?” she enquired as she looked at them demurely, the faintest of smiles upon her lips.

A brilliant green flash forced all three into defensive positions.

“Thank Goddess,” said a slightly shrill voice in sheer frustration as the light faded to show a woman.

Beautiful as she was, her attire was what really pulled attention to her. Major Victory noticed first the tight revealing bosom of her otherwise old-fashioned and flowing moss-green dress. Then he noticed as the woman moved towards them that she wasn’t wearing any shoes, peculiar in itself given the grainy ground she walked on without even flinching. Her skin was unnaturally flawless, and her long blonde hair was wavy and fell across either shoulders, but some was pull back and held in place with a flower.

His eyes moved towards Beta Ray Bill, who hadn’t gotten past the first phase of her attire yet.

“Why are you standing like that?” she enquired, genuinely confused as she looked at the three of them. “You have incredibly bad posture. I’ve seen ghosts with better.”

Major Victory snapped upright as he looked at her in disbelief.

A shot was fired and brought their intentions to focus as they all turned to face barrel of the gun that was pointed between the woman and Major Victory, Beta Ray Bill’s eyes narrowed as he tightened his grip on Stormbreaker.

“We don’t appreciate things like you here in Hanoi,” growled the musky old bartender.

“Guys,” Mantis said to them loudly. “We’re not alone.”

She looked skywards and a few moments after she had made the revelation, helicopters with the Vietnamese government trademark flew over head.

Now
Debrief Log: Major Victory
(Vance Astro, Time-Displaced Human, Psychokinesis and Combat Genius)

“It was definitely a moment that could only be described by one word,” said the brunette man, “crap.”

He covered his eyes with his right hand as he leaned his right elbow on his knee.

Now
Abandoned Sector, Knowhere
The Rip, End of the Universe

Drax walked into the abandoned hallway absentmindedly, his memory was gone but that didn’t matter while he was on ‘Knowhere’. Nothing would have been familiar to him anyway. In a way, he liked that.

Perhaps he had agreed to remain in the room until Rocket told him otherwise but he had no idea why he should hide out like some sort of criminal. There were creatures on this ship that looked more peculiar than he did.

After all, it was the temporary home to thousands of alien species from across both space and time. He had learned that when he had been approached by a tourist for directions. Not that he had known. The Starjammers had removed whatever clothing he had been wearing when they had found him and given him an old ‘costume’ of Corsair’s but he didn’t like it much. He felt like a child playing dress up but as he had nothing else, he wore the tight navy trousers and the black boots.

As he walked along the hallway, it flickered to life.

Memory loss or not, Drax felt like he would’ve hated to have been cared for by an anthropomorphic raccoon. It was quite a jump from being a Californian real estate agent and part-time musician in his garage with his closest friend and his brother-in-law to looking at the end of the universe from the observation deck of a space port.

Clenching his fists, an all too familiar sensation tingled through his body. It was strength and a power that he couldn’t understand but even more confusingly, although he felt it he was unable to access the power. There was nothing more frustrating than not being able to access the power he felt. To Drax it was similar to a child getting a new toy and having to keep it in the box.

As the lights glared in his eyes, he saw a row of garbage and packaging that was piled high on the wall. Something about it attracted his attention and pulling it away, Drax the Destroyer found a door and trying the door it refused to open. Standing back, the green man held his hand, open palm, at the door and closing his eyes, he concentrated and with a simple zztt, he knew it was a mission accomplished.

He opened his eyes as the dark room flickered to life and he entered.

One Day Ago
Outside Bobcat’s Den
Hanoi, Vietnam

“He called the government,” yelled Major Victory in disbelief as the sound of the helicopters almost drowned out his voice.

It’s protocol in Vietnam, said the husky voice of Mantis in his head and from the look of the other two it was in their heads also, it’s just a disadvantage that you’re also American.

“Not the type of American they’re after,” he replied but he knew that it didn’t matter in the slightest.

Ropes dropped from the planes as men slid down them and surrounded the foursome.

Looking down the loaded barrel of the gun, the Goddess Persephone waved her hand in front of the bartender’s face and whispered in ancient Greek and with a flash of hazy green energy; the man fell to the ground unconscious.

“I very much doubt that will help our situation,” groaned Beta Ray Bill as he watched on from their right.

Both Persephone and Major Victory turned to face him. Her face was expressionless and Major Victory’s was hidden beneath his mask.

Now
Debrief Log: Persephone
(Persephone, Olympian Goddess, Olympian Attributes, Electrokinetic, Geokinetic and Sorceress)

She was sitting with arms folded and a perfectly unblemished face, complete with a pout, as she looked at the camera briefly. Persephone’s emerald eyes did little to show she was focused at all as she watched a fly buzz around her. With a flick of her fingers it burst into green energy and crackled away before she finally turned her eyes lazily towards the camera again.

“How was I supposed to know what would happen next?” she moaned in confusion. “I’m not the precognitive.”

Persephone indignantly leaned back into her chair.

One Day Ago
Outside Bobcat’s Den
Hanoi, Vietnam

The men that surrounded them rushed in. Surrounding them once again, not as a group but as individuals and with a silent understanding of one another, they came to a decision.

Beta Ray Bill was the first to attack the soldiers that surrounded him as he brought the full wrath of Stormbreaker down upon them. Using the hammer as a blunt instrument he smashed it around the circle of men that surrounded him as one by one they collapsed to the ground from the trauma. As one man fired his machine gun at the Korbinite hero, Beta Ray Bill brought the hammer down on his hand as it shattered, before kicking the man unconscious. He looked up for anyone who dared to attack him.

A small squadron of trained soldiers approached him with their guns raised.

That’s it boys, Mantis telepathically broadcast into the minds of the soldiers around her. Lower those weapons. Kneecaps? Fire. As soon as the order entered her mind, the soldiers shot and before they could collect themselves they were on the ground writhing in pain as Mantis stepped over them, leaving them alive.

As another man rushed at her kicked him in the stomach, and swung around as her hand connected with his throat. Proceeding to smash him onto his back on the hard clay-like ground she punched the man in the face as a bloodied nose marked his defeat.

Stepping away from the unconscious body as more rushed at her.

As a man rushed Persephone, he grabbed her neck. Peeling his arms off of her, she thrust him over her back and into the distance. As another soldier rushed her, she brought a roundhouse kick to his face before a punch brought him down. As the other soldiers’ closed in around her, she placed her wrists together and fired a static electricity bolt that sent the three of them flying away from her.

Standing with electricity crackling around her arms she watched the soldiers approach her.

Major Victory moved away from Persephone as he raised a psychokinetic shield in front of himself that deflected the bullets that were fired, with a push of his hands forward he sent the shield propelling out towards the soldiers and they were forced back onto their backs. As they tried to recompose themselves he used his powers to toss their guns into the nearby forest.

One of them was brazen enough to rush as him and he turned around in time to receive a punch in the face. Using his power he lifted the man off the ground.

“Don’t ever try that again,” he growled at him before throwing him into the wall of the bar.

He had a moment to turn and see as the others fought of the hordes of soldiers but he also noticed the number was dwindling by the minute.

As the rowdy drunkards from the bar foolishly joined in on the scuffle there was a sudden increase in the pressure of the air.

Beta Ray Bill held Stormbreaker high above his head as lightning jolted from the sky above and with a lack of control in his eyes, he dropped Stormbreaker and directed it towards the soldier in front of him as he dropped too his knees.

“We can’t keep this up all day,” Mantis called to them as she so readily kicked one of the men she had amused not so long ago in the face.

Persephone had one of the soldier’s by the neck as she heard the comment.

“I can get us out of here,” she said in reply, throwing the man effortlessly away from her.

She turned to face the general direction of Mantis’ voice just as a bullet was shot at her. With haste she waved her hand out in front of her, and a stream of green energy crackled in front of her as it caught the bullet.

“How, little one?” called the Korbinite hero as he kicked the now conscious bartender away from him before hitting him in the chest with Stormbreaker.

“Just…Just…Hold on,” she said to them as she finished off the man who had shot at her. “Just give me a destination.”

“Knowhere,” Major Victory called to her as he fired a bullet back at the soldier.

Pausing as a man tried to tackle her but failed to so much as move the Goddess. She looked at him lazily and with a push, she sent him flying through the decimated scene.

“We have to go somewhere for it to work,” she said as she misunderstood.

“Knowhere is a place,” he replied.

“But…” Mantis had started as she fell to the ground and swung her leg around, catching a soldier and knocking him down.

“It’s a place, trust me,” Major Victory yelled back at them as he caught another in a chokehold.

He only hoped he was right.

“We don’t know you,” Mantis said, always the voice of reason.

“Have faith,” Beta Ray Bill yelled too her.

As they discussed it, Persephone was already chanting in ancient Greek and within seconds they felt as if a surge of electricity had shot through their bodies. It wasn’t excruciating but it was undeniably unpleasant. As the green energy swirled around them it felt as if they were disintegrating and reforming somewhere else.

In a few seconds the remaining soldiers had lost their targets.

Now
Market Place, Knowhere
The Rip, End of the Universe

Bright green energy flowed openly in the Market Place and before long the four figures appeared in a line on the decking pad of the severed-Celestial head’s port. Fully reformed and slightly shocked that they could be Knowhere, and the true meaning of his message finally came to Major Victory, and he understood a bit further why he had come back in time. A bit was better than nothing.