Chapter 343: The Final Problem
I would like to thank my beta, Akisu, for his help in this chapter.
16th May 2013, Middle of Space
(Peter Quill POV)
Morrigan nodded, "He did. He killed countless mothers to take away their children. I imagine he could be quite charming when he wanted to be."
"HE KILLED MY MOM!" Peter yelled.
Suddenly, Peter felt as if something was unlocked. The entire spacecraft was starting to shake, like it was resonating with his anger. Gamora fell down in shock, and even Hela looked nervously at him. Morrigan though, looked unconcerned, like she expected this to happen. He didn't care, too consumed by his burning rage. It was bottled deep down, trying to escape. He almost let it all go, destroying everything around him in his rage, until the Morrigan just snapped her fingers.
There was noise everywhere, but the snap was somehow deafening. The room then righted itself, the spacecraft stopped shaking, and Peter himself felt breathless for a second, and fell down to the floor.
The woman raised an eyebrow, "Are you done?"
"Who the fuck are you?" Peter gasped out.
"I'm the Morrigan, the last daughter of Atlantis. I am the last defense to the oncoming storm, the end of everything. The multiverse will soon be swallowed in darkness, Peter Quill, and I need your help to stop it."
When she finished her monologue, Peter just stared at her, flabbergasted by what she just said, "I don't understand."
The woman smirked and answered, "I didn't expect you to…"
"What are you, really?" Peter asked.
"I am like you, or at least the closest thing there is to you that exists in this universe. I am a half-Celestial, or at least, a pseudo-Celestial. The difference is that you are biologically stable, while I am slowly ascending to becoming a full one, but I am hoping that it will be a long way away." The terrifying woman answered.
"Why is that?"
The woman shrugged, "Being a Celestial is more than just having cosmic powers to manipulate reality. They have a different way of perceiving the world, one that happens on a very high level. In a way, things start to feel small, lives start to feel like acceptable costs, and you realize how meaningless things really are. This detachment from reality is something that I wish to avoid at all costs. One day, I will lose my humanity, my mortality, and become a cold ruthless being. It is inevitable, and yet, it is a future that I fight."
Peter shivered at the cold tone in which it was delivered. He had always centered himself around the idea of bonds and caring. A life as a cold rational being that is always calculating the best outcome is something that he would dread as well.
Still, as terrifying as Morrigan was, she couldn't deter Peter from his righteous anger towards the man that killed his mother, "Where is he? Where is my father?"
"Dead, or at least as good as…" the woman immediately replied.
Peter deflated when he realized what she just said. He would not get his revenge on his father like he wished he could, "How did that happen?"
The Morrigan shrugged, "He tracked me down to Earth and tried to kill me. I ended up breaking his mind, and thus turning him into a vegetable. He was fighting me through an energy projection which meant that I couldn't really hurt him. The only vulnerable thing was his mind and trust me, what I did to him was very painful. Right now, he's only a brain-dead planet that has a reservoir of cosmic energy, that's where you come in, Peter Quill."
"Wait, what?"
The woman gave him a soft smile, "Your father may be dead, but his body still functions as a good source of cosmic energy, one that you are connected to. You can use his body, his powers, for good. Become a true guardian of the galaxy like you claimed you would."
Holy shit, what was that woman on about. Sure, the story was good and all, but for all his bravado, Peter wasn't a hero. Oh, he wished he was, that's for sure, to become one of the heroes he heard so much about when he was a kid. But he just didn't have it in him. Even when saving Xandar, he only did it because it was a good way to be free of Yondu. Oh, he would have wanted to save Xandar, but Peter was too selfish to not put himself first.
"I don't want to disappoint you," Peter began.
However, the Morrigan interrupted him, "Oh, don't worry. I'm not going to ask you to become a knight in shining armor. All I'm asking is that you let me train you on how to control your powers and in exchange you would help me in a single fight. That's all."
Gamora this time spoke up, "What fight are you talking about? What could make you so desperate that you would travel halfway across that galaxy just for the chance of one person's help."
The Morrigan let out an exasperated sigh and deadpanned, "Look, I'll be straight with you and put all my cards on the table. Sometime in the next few years, one of the biggest fights in the history of the universe will occur, for the fate of existence. A being of Endless power took on a mortal form and is seeking to destroy everything."
"What's his name?" Peter asked.
"Entropy," Peter felt a shudder go through him when he heard the name. It was like the world stopped breathing for a minute.
The woman continued, unconcerned, "He is the manifestation of the concept of entropy. A shard of reality given form and that gained a consciousness. He wishes to spread his essence across time and space, securing the ultimate entropy, the total heat death of the universe. Honestly, if it was just that, it wouldn't be a big deal. Universes die all the time, and an extra one dying isn't that much of an issue. No, the problem is that he's not just targeting this universe but all of them."
Gamora muttered, "I don't understand… Oh no!" she gasped when she seemed to realize what the problem truly was.
"I'm afraid your thoughts are correct," the woman affirmed, "The infinity stones, when used in conjunction for a single purpose would break the borders of reality for a fraction of a second. But that would be enough to provide the enemy an opportunity to fulfill his goal. It would allow him to destroy not only this universe, but to spread his essence across all of them, in a sort of cascade, destroying one after another, until all that remains in all of time and space, in all the possibilities of anything being nothing more than absolute cold and no movement. Imagine that in a single moment, everything that you are, everything that you could have been, would be erased from history, stopped from happening, in a single second. That is the enemy I am fighting, the enemy I am asking you to fight with me. The single battle is near, and if we lose, everyone dies. And I'll be honest, things aren't looking so good."
"Then why do you need me? Why didn't you ask the actual Celestials that know what they're doing?"
The Morrigan shrugged and answered, "I did. We had an alliance in place, but Entropy took them all by surprise with an ancient weapon capable of killing them, and they all died. We're all that is left of the Celestials in this universe."
"And you're expecting me, of all people, to fight against him?" Peter hysterically replied back at her.
"Look, if we fight without you, we will lose and everyone will die, you included. If you help us, there might be a chance that we get out of there alive."
"What about the rest of my crew, are they supposed to just die?"
"No, they will help fight Thanos. Entropy is using the Mad Titan to collect the infinity stones and destroy half the life in the universe. He will hijack the spell and spread his essence to achieve his goal. Stopping Thanos from obtaining the stones will be their goal. The battle will occur on Earth, and I have a few teams ready, that's not mentioning Asgard's army, ready to fight. Your crew could help massively since they're more familiar with the Titan's situation." The woman explained.
Wait a minute? What did she just say, "Thanos wants to wipe out half the life in the universe?"
That was an insane goal. Why would anyone ever want to do that? He looked at Gamora, hoping for her to deny it, only she looked down in shame.
"I am not sure of his history," Morrigan explained, "But I theorize that he appears to have some sort of cosmic sense. He's not wrong about the fact that the universe was withering. It was an issue with Asgardians that I solved. The expansion of the universe wasn't functioning properly, and with this issue, life stagnated. This has been an issue for millions of years, but it was resolved, and the parties involved banished. I think that Thanos realized that something was wrong, and found that killing half the population was a good way for life to flourish once more. Unfortunately, the change will only be noticeable in a few thousand years, and Thanos is dead set on achieving his life goal. And Entropy whispering in his ear isn't helping matters."
"Father was right?" Gamora muttered.
"Oh, he wasn't that wrong, just misguided. Don't get me wrong, he is an arrogant, and cruel warlord regardless of what his intentions are. He is utterly obsessed with the foolishness that he calls his life's purpose, and he will never give it up even if he was given any evidence. Tell me Gamora, if I told him what I just told you, do you think that he would stop?"
The green-skinned woman's answer was almost immediate, "No, he would not."
The Morrigan nodded, "And so, your team will help Terra's defenders fight Thanos' invasion, while you and I, and the rest of our team will fight Entropy."
"And who's on that team of ours?" Peter questioned.
The woman hesitated before answering, "Loki of Asgard, God of Stories and the Avatar of Dreams, Jean Grey, the Avatar of the Phoenix Force, me, the Morrigan, former avatar of Death and pseudo-Celestial, and you."
"Just the four of us?" Peter protested.
"Yes, but each one of us has enough power to wipe out planets. But you're right, there were others, but things haven't been going well. There was Odin, the All-Father, but he was injured recently. His heir is strong but he doesn't have the proper control and understanding of his powers to be in a fight of that scale. There's also my former wife, Selene, although I imprisoned her not so long ago when she betrayed me."
The woman looked saddened when she spoke of her wife, so Peter chose not to insult her, "What about Hela? Why isn't she on the team?"
Hela snorted, "Boy, I am powerful, but fighting an Endless is something that is even beyond me. I am sorry."
The Morrigan nodded, "You need a certain amount of raw power to survive in a fight like that. Hela will be on the team that fights Thanos and his armies. There are other contenders like my daughters, Nimue, Stephen Strange, and Thor. But they just don't have the power or they would need a lot more experience to survive more than a few seconds in the fight. The last fight I had with Entropy, we almost destroyed a planet, although we each had an infinity stone on our side. I was not kidding when I said that you are powerful, and that I needed you."
Peter still felt hesitant, "I'm still not sure."
"Look, Quill, I don't know much about your mother, so I'm not going to give you some speech about what she would have wanted. But what I am going to tell you is that there are times in your life when you're given a choice between doing what is right and what is easy. Neither are really wrong choices, and I will not judge you, but the question is, can you live with yourself if you condemn everyone you ever knew, everyone you could ever know, to death because of that choice?"
Peter looked at the green-eyed woman, then at Gamora, and he knew what choice he had to make.
As usual, I generally post four chapters a week, on Sundays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. (The month is over, so I'm going back to the usual schedule)
If you want to support me, check out my Patreon. I tend to upload drafts of early chapters on there to get people's opinions of them so you can read up to 20 chapters ahead as a bonus.
Thank you guys for your support in these hard times.
Chapter 343: The Final Problem
I would like to thank my beta, Akisu, for his help in this chapter.
16th May 2013, Middle of Space
(Peter Quill POV)
Morrigan nodded, "He did. He killed countless mothers to take away their children. I imagine he could be quite charming when he wanted to be."
"HE KILLED MY MOM!" Peter yelled.
Suddenly, Peter felt as if something was unlocked. The entire spacecraft was starting to shake, like it was resonating with his anger. Gamora fell down in shock, and even Hela looked nervously at him. Morrigan though, looked unconcerned, like she expected this to happen. He didn't care, too consumed by his burning rage. It was bottled deep down, trying to escape. He almost let it all go, destroying everything around him in his rage, until the Morrigan just snapped her fingers.
There was noise everywhere, but the snap was somehow deafening. The room then righted itself, the spacecraft stopped shaking, and Peter himself felt breathless for a second, and fell down to the floor.
The woman raised an eyebrow, "Are you done?"
"Who the fuck are you?" Peter gasped out.
"I'm the Morrigan, the last daughter of Atlantis. I am the last defense to the oncoming storm, the end of everything. The multiverse will soon be swallowed in darkness, Peter Quill, and I need your help to stop it."
When she finished her monologue, Peter just stared at her, flabbergasted by what she just said, "I don't understand."
The woman smirked and answered, "I didn't expect you to…"
"What are you, really?" Peter asked.
"I am like you, or at least the closest thing there is to you that exists in this universe. I am a half-Celestial, or at least, a pseudo-Celestial. The difference is that you are biologically stable, while I am slowly ascending to becoming a full one, but I am hoping that it will be a long way away." The terrifying woman answered.
"Why is that?"
The woman shrugged, "Being a Celestial is more than just having cosmic powers to manipulate reality. They have a different way of perceiving the world, one that happens on a very high level. In a way, things start to feel small, lives start to feel like acceptable costs, and you realize how meaningless things really are. This detachment from reality is something that I wish to avoid at all costs. One day, I will lose my humanity, my mortality, and become a cold ruthless being. It is inevitable, and yet, it is a future that I fight."
Peter shivered at the cold tone in which it was delivered. He had always centered himself around the idea of bonds and caring. A life as a cold rational being that is always calculating the best outcome is something that he would dread as well.
Still, as terrifying as Morrigan was, she couldn't deter Peter from his righteous anger towards the man that killed his mother, "Where is he? Where is my father?"
"Dead, or at least as good as…" the woman immediately replied.
Peter deflated when he realized what she just said. He would not get his revenge on his father like he wished he could, "How did that happen?"
The Morrigan shrugged, "He tracked me down to Earth and tried to kill me. I ended up breaking his mind, and thus turning him into a vegetable. He was fighting me through an energy projection which meant that I couldn't really hurt him. The only vulnerable thing was his mind and trust me, what I did to him was very painful. Right now, he's only a brain-dead planet that has a reservoir of cosmic energy, that's where you come in, Peter Quill."
"Wait, what?"
The woman gave him a soft smile, "Your father may be dead, but his body still functions as a good source of cosmic energy, one that you are connected to. You can use his body, his powers, for good. Become a true guardian of the galaxy like you claimed you would."
Holy shit, what was that woman on about. Sure, the story was good and all, but for all his bravado, Peter wasn't a hero. Oh, he wished he was, that's for sure, to become one of the heroes he heard so much about when he was a kid. But he just didn't have it in him. Even when saving Xandar, he only did it because it was a good way to be free of Yondu. Oh, he would have wanted to save Xandar, but Peter was too selfish to not put himself first.
"I don't want to disappoint you," Peter began.
However, the Morrigan interrupted him, "Oh, don't worry. I'm not going to ask you to become a knight in shining armor. All I'm asking is that you let me train you on how to control your powers and in exchange you would help me in a single fight. That's all."
Gamora this time spoke up, "What fight are you talking about? What could make you so desperate that you would travel halfway across that galaxy just for the chance of one person's help."
The Morrigan let out an exasperated sigh and deadpanned, "Look, I'll be straight with you and put all my cards on the table. Sometime in the next few years, one of the biggest fights in the history of the universe will occur, for the fate of existence. A being of Endless power took on a mortal form and is seeking to destroy everything."
"What's his name?" Peter asked.
"Entropy," Peter felt a shudder go through him when he heard the name. It was like the world stopped breathing for a minute.
The woman continued, unconcerned, "He is the manifestation of the concept of entropy. A shard of reality given form and that gained a consciousness. He wishes to spread his essence across time and space, securing the ultimate entropy, the total heat death of the universe. Honestly, if it was just that, it wouldn't be a big deal. Universes die all the time, and an extra one dying isn't that much of an issue. No, the problem is that he's not just targeting this universe but all of them."
Gamora muttered, "I don't understand… Oh no!" she gasped when she seemed to realize what the problem truly was.
"I'm afraid your thoughts are correct," the woman affirmed, "The infinity stones, when used in conjunction for a single purpose would break the borders of reality for a fraction of a second. But that would be enough to provide the enemy an opportunity to fulfill his goal. It would allow him to destroy not only this universe, but to spread his essence across all of them, in a sort of cascade, destroying one after another, until all that remains in all of time and space, in all the possibilities of anything being nothing more than absolute cold and no movement. Imagine that in a single moment, everything that you are, everything that you could have been, would be erased from history, stopped from happening, in a single second. That is the enemy I am fighting, the enemy I am asking you to fight with me. The single battle is near, and if we lose, everyone dies. And I'll be honest, things aren't looking so good."
"Then why do you need me? Why didn't you ask the actual Celestials that know what they're doing?"
The Morrigan shrugged and answered, "I did. We had an alliance in place, but Entropy took them all by surprise with an ancient weapon capable of killing them, and they all died. We're all that is left of the Celestials in this universe."
"And you're expecting me, of all people, to fight against him?" Peter hysterically replied back at her.
"Look, if we fight without you, we will lose and everyone will die, you included. If you help us, there might be a chance that we get out of there alive."
"What about the rest of my crew, are they supposed to just die?"
"No, they will help fight Thanos. Entropy is using the Mad Titan to collect the infinity stones and destroy half the life in the universe. He will hijack the spell and spread his essence to achieve his goal. Stopping Thanos from obtaining the stones will be their goal. The battle will occur on Earth, and I have a few teams ready, that's not mentioning Asgard's army, ready to fight. Your crew could help massively since they're more familiar with the Titan's situation." The woman explained.
Wait a minute? What did she just say, "Thanos wants to wipe out half the life in the universe?"
That was an insane goal. Why would anyone ever want to do that? He looked at Gamora, hoping for her to deny it, only she looked down in shame.
"I am not sure of his history," Morrigan explained, "But I theorize that he appears to have some sort of cosmic sense. He's not wrong about the fact that the universe was withering. It was an issue with Asgardians that I solved. The expansion of the universe wasn't functioning properly, and with this issue, life stagnated. This has been an issue for millions of years, but it was resolved, and the parties involved banished. I think that Thanos realized that something was wrong, and found that killing half the population was a good way for life to flourish once more. Unfortunately, the change will only be noticeable in a few thousand years, and Thanos is dead set on achieving his life goal. And Entropy whispering in his ear isn't helping matters."
"Father was right?" Gamora muttered.
"Oh, he wasn't that wrong, just misguided. Don't get me wrong, he is an arrogant, and cruel warlord regardless of what his intentions are. He is utterly obsessed with the foolishness that he calls his life's purpose, and he will never give it up even if he was given any evidence. Tell me Gamora, if I told him what I just told you, do you think that he would stop?"
The green-skinned woman's answer was almost immediate, "No, he would not."
The Morrigan nodded, "And so, your team will help Terra's defenders fight Thanos' invasion, while you and I, and the rest of our team will fight Entropy."
"And who's on that team of ours?" Peter questioned.
The woman hesitated before answering, "Loki of Asgard, God of Stories and the Avatar of Dreams, Jean Grey, the Avatar of the Phoenix Force, me, the Morrigan, former avatar of Death and pseudo-Celestial, and you."
"Just the four of us?" Peter protested.
"Yes, but each one of us has enough power to wipe out planets. But you're right, there were others, but things haven't been going well. There was Odin, the All-Father, but he was injured recently. His heir is strong but he doesn't have the proper control and understanding of his powers to be in a fight of that scale. There's also my former wife, Selene, although I imprisoned her not so long ago when she betrayed me."
The woman looked saddened when she spoke of her wife, so Peter chose not to insult her, "What about Hela? Why isn't she on the team?"
Hela snorted, "Boy, I am powerful, but fighting an Endless is something that is even beyond me. I am sorry."
The Morrigan nodded, "You need a certain amount of raw power to survive in a fight like that. Hela will be on the team that fights Thanos and his armies. There are other contenders like my daughters, Nimue, Stephen Strange, and Thor. But they just don't have the power or they would need a lot more experience to survive more than a few seconds in the fight. The last fight I had with Entropy, we almost destroyed a planet, although we each had an infinity stone on our side. I was not kidding when I said that you are powerful, and that I needed you."
Peter still felt hesitant, "I'm still not sure."
"Look, Quill, I don't know much about your mother, so I'm not going to give you some speech about what she would have wanted. But what I am going to tell you is that there are times in your life when you're given a choice between doing what is right and what is easy. Neither are really wrong choices, and I will not judge you, but the question is, can you live with yourself if you condemn everyone you ever knew, everyone you could ever know, to death because of that choice?"
Peter looked at the green-eyed woman, then at Gamora, and he knew what choice he had to make.
As usual, I generally post four chapters a week, on Sundays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. (The month is over, so I'm going back to the usual schedule)
If you want to support me, check out my Patreon. I tend to upload drafts of early chapters on there to get people's opinions of them so you can read up to 20 chapters ahead as a bonus.
Thank you guys for your support in these hard times.
