Sarka Imperium Citadel
Sarka, Tilnast Star System, Milky Way Galaxy

King Rap’rt rushed from his throne as he made his way towards his daughter; anger and hatred were all he could feel as he looked back at the emotionless Emperor. His brother and her uncle, as uncaring as he possibly could be. Lifting Amarelle from the ground, her eyes opened as she screamed. The traumatised scream that echoed around the hall forced Vik’trya to join her brother-in-law.

Mantis approached the three Sarks as they crouched beside the door. Each step was elegant, poised and she held herself with dignity and power. It was clear that she was someone special, power emanated from her. It wasn’t the raw power of Drax; it was instead the more refined power of a Goddess. Her mind expanded, it captured the young woman’s and forced her straggling thoughts to become coherent and clear. She clearly saw the Uncreated ravaging a young woman that Amarelle recognised as the daughter of the Emperor, Princess Desdmonea.

Shaking her head, and lowering her gaze, Mantis turned to face the Emperor.

{“It would appear that one was not responsible after all.”}

WHAT IS AND WHAT SHOULD NEVER BE

Part III: Uncreated Debacle

By Gavin McMahon

The Teleportation Bay, Knowhere
The Rip, End of the Universe

Bill felt the wall crushing around him as he pushed the Uncreated off of him.

Groaning while he lifted his gaze from the crumbling rubble to the creatures ahead of him, Beta Ray Bill felt nothing but a bitter surge of anger towards them. These hideous beasts had been the reason that a nation was falling, it reminded him of the Fall of Korbin. The memories of his lost nation were still fresh, despite the passing of many years. Korbin, and Skuttlebutt was part of his past and it would always remain fully intact.

Bill would not allow another to bear the weight of failing a nation.

Clasping his fist tighter around the handle of Stormbreaker, Bill was torn between using its magic or being an old fashioned warrior, and smashing it across the closer of the three Uncreated’s foul features; he found it was slightly affective.

His long red cloaked swayed around him as Bill pushed himself to his feet, and rushed into the centre of the three beasts. Holding Stormbreaker above his head, he summoned the power of the cosmos itself. Lightning fell upon him, and he deflected it towards the beasts, they bolted from him, hissing and screeching as they did so. The smell of burnt flesh reached his nostrils, and as Bill marched towards one of the beasts he noticed it had received the full force of Stormbreaker’s wrath.

Fury illuminated the harsh features of the warrior, as he came to a stop over the vicious creature. The Uncreated snapped at him, its legs seemed to have been broken by the blast but it had lost none of its fervour for pain and death. Smashing Stormbreaker down on its head, a purple hued blood squirted everywhere and left its screams echoing through the room.

Smashing into the ground, Bill hadn’t accounted for the other Uncreated present as he used his superhuman strength to remove the beast from his body, thrusting it into the ceiling above him before he rolled to his feet.

Frantically, the monster rushed at him, but it was unprepared for the weight of Stormbreaker that collided with its face, sending it hurtling into the teleportation bay from which it had come. Unfortunately, the teleportation bay created an explosion with the pressure of the attack, and as it fell apart, it teleported the alien monster from his sight.

Beta Ray Bill found himself panting as he tried regaining his composure; the fight had taken it out of him, more than he would have expected it too. It was clear that he had been too long out of action, as he swept the sweat from his brow; he kicked the lifeless body of the Uncreated from his way.

Widening his eyes, Bill looked around the room.

“Where is the third?” he said as fear grasped hold of him.

Sarka Imperium Citadel
Sarka, Tilnast Star System, Milky Way Galaxy

{”Explain yourself,”} the Emperor growled angrily at his niece, Amarelle.

Amarelle had returned from the centre of the city with the news that her cousin, the Royal Princess Desdmonea, had been murdered by beasts she had never before encountered. The account had sent the Emperor in a fury in which he had struck her to the ground in his anger, it was then that Major Victory and Mantis had taken their place between the man and his niece, who knelt before her uncle seeking forgiveness.

{”Calm the fuck down,”} ordered Major Victory as he stepped forward, matching the violent Emperor in height and in musculature.

Mantis had observed the man, and she had seen what Amarelle had seen. There was weight behind the young girl’s statements and that worried her, the Uncreated were closing in around the city. Emperor Hn’rik was too concerned with personal goals to fully understand the perils that lay just beyond his city.

In the past, Mantis had been able to reach out with her mind to find those she had needed too, but there were no minds in these beasts. They were as different from any race she had ever met before, and that aggravated her. The Uncreated were nothing more than mutated animals, they were incapable of planning an attack of this degree and that alerted her to a horrible truth.

Someone else was involved in the war, and they were present on Sarka.

Using the Royal Family as pawns, they had brought the nation to its knees. Fear gripped the Sarkans; Mantis could feel the tension and worry of a nation in her mind. It had made it hard for her too focus, but turning her attention towards Amarelle, she leaned to face the girl.

{”She’s telling the truth and this interrogation is pointless,”} Mantis confirmed as she detached from the girl’s mind. {”You have a nation to lead, and you need to do it swiftly. The Uncreated are coming.”}

Emperor Hn’rik seemed to be surprised at how Mantis had addressed him, but as he moved towards her he stopped. Drax the Destroyer growled viciously, and Hn’rik knew striking her wouldn’t be worth the revenge that would be exacted upon him. Stepping away from his niece, Hn’rik moved towards the balcony. He was followed by Queen Vik’trya.

General Mar’cel attempted to move, but Drax kicked the man back to the ground before growling at him. “You’re mine.” The language was not understood by the Sarkan, but Drax could see the fear that was etched across his brutish features and it amused him.

{”My husband, perhaps we should accept their offer,”} Vik’trya approached him cautiously. {”Our nation is falling.”}

{”What does a woman know of ruling?”}

Vik’trya understood, she nodded and she removed herself from the balcony only to be replaced by Major Victory.

{”We are offering our assistance you,”} Major Victory reminded him.

Emperor Hn’rik glared at the blue-costumed man.

{”What do you think you are?”} snarled the royal Sarkan. {”Some kind of guardian of the galaxy.”}

Sarcasm and arrogance laced the blue alien’s voice, but Major Victory’s reply surprised him. {”Yes. We are the Guardians of the Galaxy, and we won’t offer again.”}

Major Victory walked away from him, leaving the Emperor alone on the balcony. His eyes moved onto his team, they needed him, and they needed him to be the leader. Mantis was strong and independent; she had been on her own for much of her life. Previously an Avenger, she had faced threats far worse than the Uncreated. She was the Celestial Goddess after all. Rocket Raccoon had always been a loner, he had never needed to co-operate in a team.

It was Drax the Destroyer that worried him.

Uncontrollable rage was built up inside the green behemoth, and Major Victory was not sure they would be able to contain him when he finally released himself for who he truly was. He had pretended not to notice the fear and nervous anxiety on Mantis and Rocket’s faces when he was around.

Vance Astro was from an alternate reality, and he had no experience that he could remember with a Drax the Destroyer from any reality.

Emperor Hn’rik returned, standing ominously ahead of them all. {”Guardians of the Galaxy, you have a deal.”}

The Marketplace, Knowhere
The Rip, End of the Universe

It had become second nature for Persephone to seduce men into granting her wishes, but in order to fulfil what she had come to perceive as her destiny, she knew it would take everything in her power to stand alone.

Major Victory, Beta Ray Bill and even Mantis, they had heroics mastered to perfection.

Persephone had rarely ever allowed her vanity to see beyond herself, she had never had to care for herself. Despite the trickery of her situation, Hades had been a gentle and loving husband to her, even though she had spent the last few millennia doing all in her power to make his life miserable so he would reconsider Zeus’ arbitration.

She wasn’t the naive young maiden she had once been, collecting flowers with the Sirens.

Crashing noises distracted her from her thoughts as the beautiful blonde twisted her svelte body to look across her porcelain shoulder. Emerald green eyes flared open as she saw the beast that had devoured the man from the video. Looking around her, curls falling from her shoulders, she waited moments to be saved before she realised that she was the heroine of the tale.

Catching her breath, she watched the Uncreated attack a market stall, it was cannibalistically eating an alien who hadn’t escaped in time.

Her chest fluctuated, and as she ran forward, the green hues of her dress flowed behind her. People screamed for her to get away from it, but Persephone closed her fist and connected it with what she could only describe as the face of the beast, sending it rolling backwards.

Persephone’s pale hands shone a vibrant viridian while the beast rushed at her only to smash into a force field of her creation. Knocked to the ground by the force of the collision, she grunted upon impact.

Almost like a blur before her eyes, she saw a young alien man jump onto the back of the Uncreated, rising to her feet he was thrown off and she was knocked from her feet a second time. Glaring at the man, she pushed him off of her.

“I thought you…tik tik…could use…tik tik…some help,” he chimed cheerfully.

“Well I do not need it,” Persephone growled in reply. “Stay back before you get yourself hurt.”

Persephone spoke in rushed Greco-Latin as she teleported behind the Uncreated in a flash of viridian light. Grabbing at the monster’s tail, she utilised her strength in throwing him into the wall behind her. He crashed through it, and rushing over the rubble, Persephone grabbed the beast by the throat. Punching the vile creature again and again, blood splattered out at her as she knocked the beast unconscious.

Using her powers to teleport the beast from the ship out into space, Persephone’s eyes widened as she remembered. “Bill.”

Sarka
Tilnast Star System, Milky Way Galaxy

General Go’Ing marched his troops into the empty centre of Sarkan civilisation.

Everything was liked he would have imagined, except there was no tumbleweed rustling around. Bodies were present, hanging from crevices that had once held memories for him. Growling as he signalled his troops to rush forward into position, he was angry that the monsters that had defiled the nation he had loved were hiding in the darkness but night was rapidly falling, and soon it would be dark everywhere.

It was at this time they had been told was their advantage.

Ahead of him stood the man and his team that had been added to the war that was brewing on the horizon, screeches and echoing crashes came from all around them in the dark alleyways and side streets.

Major Victory looked around at the armed forces of Sarka, indicating that they were to rush into the alleyways. On his word, gun shots fired and screams echoed but the retreating soldiers backed out towards him as the lights of the three blue suns dimmed in the distance. Glowing blue discs of psychokinetic energy illuminated around his hands, as he watched the monsters slither from their dwellings.

Gunfire lit the murky streets, his teammates separated as they fought for the freedom of the Sarka and of the Universal Church of Truth.

In the darkness, he could only see the monsters from the flashes of light discharged by the powered Guardians and from the weapons wielded by the Sarka. Smashing the Uncreated that launched towards him back into the darkness, he felt himself being pulled backwards by the tongue of another, creating a psychokinetic blade Major Victory turned on his heel to cut himself free before rushing forward to decapitate the beast.

Mantis’ elegant movements were clear in front of him as she manipulated the very earth on which she stood into doing her bidding.

It was then that Major Victory came to notice that the Uncreated were fewer around the others in the battlefield than they were around Mantis, around whom they were congregating at a greater speed, and if much more were to follow her they would overpower her.

“Drax! Rocket!” Major Victory charged forward with his blade as he attempted to cut through the masses that separated him from the Celestial Goddess. He had never imagined they would sense her divinity and seek to destroy it.

Rocket Raccoon ducked between two of the Uncreated, he had heard Major Victory’s call but every time he attempted to move forward more of the damned beasts surrounded him. While using the blade which he had first received upon becoming the sheriff back on Halfworld, Rocket cut at the beasts again and again.

Blood stuck to his fur but he endured the smell, fighting like he had never fought before. Halfworld had allowed him to be a peacekeeper but his sense of adventure had led him to a rag-tag team of heroes that he had never expected it too. He was the personal minder for one of the deadliest men in the galaxy.

Fighting back the emotions that came to mind, the disgust at the action of murder he was committing, he tried to tell himself he was better than those he had chased not so long ago but he wasn’t sure if he believed it.

Teeth sunk into his arm, as he yelped in anger, turning and placing the blade right between the Uncreated’s eyes, he then reached for his guns and opened fire.

Killing wasn’t the difficult part, Arthur felt as though the monster that was inside of him had killed before. Amnesia had left him safe and secure, but during the fits of rage he had suffered, Arthur had learned that there was something inside of him. He had then discovered that it was just one short stop away from what he would have considered evil.

Flashing his eyes a deep shade of blood red, Arthur felt Drax overcome him.

Major Victory’s cries for help didn’t go unnoticed, nor did the unfortunate situation that Mantis found herself in but the bloodlust was overpowering. He needed the kill, it rejuvenated him.

Sending out the blasts of pale green energy, Drax watched the Uncreated fall around him and he laughed as he destroyed them. He didn’t care much for the echoing screams of the Sarkans as they were torn apart and murdered in the battle. He merely smirked as once again, he knocked the ferocious beasts flying away from him.

The Control Panel, Knowhere
The Rip, End of the Universe

“Stop following me before you get a taste of the same.”

Beta Ray Bill never imagined he would be as happy to hear the arrogant Goddess’ snarling, but as she entered he was even more pleased to see the majority of the Uncreated’s blood and guts stained on her clothing. It meant she’d successfully taken the beast out. Her facial expression changed from grim too pleased, which surprised him, when she saw her comrade.

“Oh, mighty Zeus,” she said as she rushed towards him. “I was worried one of those beasts had got to you.”

Bill smiled; he hadn’t imagined she even understood the concept of compassion not to mention felt it. His eyes filtered onto the tale, scrawny looking alien that had followed her. “Who is this?”

“I do not know.” Persephone looked over her shoulder. “You heard him, who are you?”

“Bug,” said the alien excitedly.

“Apt,” snarled the Grecian Goddess.

Bug stood away from the two as they turned to face him. He was a tall creature, reaching six foot, and his face was hidden behind a red-eyed helmet, from which his antennae sprouted. His body wasn’t muscular nor was it bulky, he was thin and sickly looking but he appeared to hail from a race of mutated insects.

Beta Ray Bill and Persephone turned their attention towards each other.

“How did the Uncreated get aboard the station?” Persephone enquired of her comrade.

“They came from the teleportation bay, but I have no idea how they accessed it.”

Persephone’s face was screwed up in thought. “We’ll have to dismantle it,” she concluded.

“Already dealt with.”

“You mean you have already…”

“I didn’t need to,” Bill replied. “The Uncreated dealt with it for us.”

“I’m…tik tik…sorry, what?”

The two Guardians turned to face Bug, only noticing he was watching them. Persephone narrowed her eyes while Beta Ray Bill folded his arms.

“Are you still here?” she drawled, already bored of his presence.

Sarka
Tilnast Star System, Milky Way Galaxy

Spewing the orange flames from her hands, Mantis shuffled backwards.

Heat and fire illuminated her green features as she blasted away the Uncreated; they had surrounded her as she hadn’t expected them too. She could see Major Victory battling through them only a short distance away, but she didn’t know if she would be able to keep them at bay. Already fatigue was starting to drain her.

Her long dark hair ruffled around her face as she backed away.

Elongated purple faces, gnashing teeth and dilated pupils flashed at her as she punched them away from her. Tripping, Mantis fell backwards; she was caught on her way down. Looking up at her saviour but the breath caught in her throat when she saw Drax the Destroyer.

Thrusting her around so they landed were back to back, they launched simultaneously at the Uncreated. Blood splattered around them as they tore through the gathered beasts.

“One guess one should…” panted Mantis through the punches. “Thank you.”

Drax nodded in acknowledgement as he punched his illuminated fists through the chests of two Uncreated. They gnashed and growled at him like caged animals just set free. Smirking as he caught one by the throat and playfully tore it limb from limb.

Shocked and disgusted at the amusement Drax was having, Mantis froze and was caught by two of the beasts, they pulled her under. She managed to incinerate one in her pyrokinetic grip but the other sunk its teeth into her neck.

Heat rushed through her as the colour melted from her eyes, Mantis’ body discharged a bright flow of light energy. Brushing through whole of the city centre, the bodies of the Uncreated broke up under the intensity of the light until the area was clear.

Choking on the blood slightly, Mantis pushed herself to her feet while the darkness fell again.

Major Victory placed her arm over his neck as he led her forward slightly, carrying her weight. He was bloodstained, and his uniform was torn and battered but he still had a soft smile on his face as he carried her forwards.

Mounds of the dead were what caught his attention; he was pleased to see both Drax the Destroyer and Rocket Raccoon had survived, although Rocket looked a little worse for wear both mentally and physically.

{“Is it over?”} General Go’Ing asked of him.

Major Victory didn’t know the answer and he froze.

{“No,”} growled Mantis. {“This is nowhere near over.”}

It was the certainty in her voice that worried Major Victory, but he kept a firm upper lip and remained silent.

Growling reached their ears, as an assault launched in the darkness.

Sarka Imperium Citadel
Sarka, Tilnast Star System, Milky Way Galaxy

Emperor Hn’rik was alone.

Almost three hours had passed since he had been alerted concerning the death of his daughter, and now he was expected to lead a country from the flames of defeat. He had allowed the Guardians of the Galaxy to join the Sarkan army on their raid of the city, but he still refused to trust them. His faith had kept him strong.

Standing on the balcony he watched the ruins of the battle, he saw the light emanating from the body of a powerful source in the battle zone, he could only assume that it was one of the Guardians. Vik’trya, Rap’rt, Amarelle and Mar’cel had all been ordered to leave him in peace, they were more of hindrance than they help they would like to be.

Hn’rik had never been a patient man.

“Hn’rik.” Drawling from behind him was a voice he had known all too well, and one he had learned to respect in the days since he had been placed among the royal dignitaries of Sarka.

“Cardinal Villim, I had expected you would have arrived sooner,” Emperor Hn’rik replied, not turning to see his visitor.

Cardinal Villim was not a Sarkan, he was merely the representative of the Universal Church of Truth stationed on Sarka, and he was a Skrull by breeding. His staff tapped along the cold, hard granite flooring as he approached the Emperor.

“I would have thought you would have known better than to involve strangers in the affairs of Sarka, and indeed in the affairs of the faith.”

“Their help was not summoned for, not directly.” Hn’rik was a truthful as he could manage, he had heard their account on receiving a distress call from General Kr’s, but it was not an SOS that had been officially sanctioned by the Royal family.

“Their interference is unacceptable.”

“Without them we would be lost,” Hn’rik grimaced at his reply; he hated to admit they had needed an outside force to control a threat against their kingdom. “They are little but good Samaritans.”

“I will be the judge of that,” Villim replied solemnly.