Chapter 75: Xandar
“Uhh, why do I feel like I was just called to the Principal’s office?”
Gwen asked nervously.
Benjamin chuckled and shook his head.
“Relax. I didn’t call you here to reprimand you or anything. I just want to know if you’re adjusting to our world well or not.”
“Oh, I’m doing good-...uhh I mean, what do you mean our world? Aren’t I also from this world?”
Benjamin just smiled and didn’t answer.
Although the multiverse isn’t exactly a part of his jurisdiction, if their problem becomes a problem of their world as well, then he needs to intervene immediately.
Well, Benjamin didn’t say all that for now and simply nodded.
“Well, as long as you’re doing fine. Remember, you can rely on me if something happens.”
“...Understood.”
“Alright, you’re free to go.”
Gwen nodded and left his office.
As soon as she closed the door behind her, she sighed.
Does…he know? But how? I’ve been very careful since entering this world…
Gwen sighed again and shook her head.
From the looks of it, Benjamin wasn’t going to do anything to her even though he knows she was not from this world.
She just has to continue as she normally would…and hopefully, everything works out well.
Time passed.
Benjamin continued to work as usual and on the weekend, he trained Illyana, Jean, and Laura in the X-Mansion.
One day, Carol came to find him.
“Ben, you’re here.”
“What’s up? Need me for something?”
“Just wanted to see you before I leave. I’m about to head back to space. A contact of mine told me that Ronan the Accuser has attacked a Xandarian prison. He’s one of the old Kree fanatics and someone I’ve been trying to track for a while now.”
“Ronan the Accuser? Xandarian prison?”
Benjamin was a bit surprised.
He thought these names seemed familiar and suddenly remembered.
Are the events of the Guardians of the Galaxy finally happening now?
Well, it could be different. Still, there was no harm in checking.
Benjamin was also quite curious about space and the situation on Earth was more or less stable.
“Can I come with?”
“Huh? You want to come with me?”
“Yeah. Once we’re done, I can just open a portal back to Earth.”
“How about the EPD?”
“Fury and the others can handle things. It’s been pretty quiet lately. Besides, I can return immediately if there are any emergencies.”
Carol was surprised to hear him want to come but was quite happy for the company.
“That’s good then! Shall we go?”
“Give me a sec. I’ll tell Nat and the others first.”
Benjamin then called Natasha and informed her that he’ll be in space with Carol for a while.
“Alright, stay safe. And don’t bring back too many alien girls.”
“I’m not going to look for alien girls.”
“No, but they’ll still come looking nonetheless.”
“...”
Benjamin didn’t know what else to say to that.
He also called Nick Fury and gave instructions.
Once everything was settled, he looked at Carol and nodded.
“I’m done. Let’s go.”
Carol nodded and led Benjamin to her ship.
Although they don’t really need a ship to fly in space, it was more convenient to travel in one after all.
Carol punched in the coordinates and the ship started to shoot into space.
As they entered warp, the space surrounding them seemingly began to stretch as they began to travel in lightspeed.
While waiting in the warp, Benjamin asked.
“So how many planets have you been on?”
“Uhh, a lot? I didn’t really keep count and some planets look alike. It isn’t as amazing as you think it is. Most of them are the same as Earth, just different cultures.”
Benjamin nodded.
Soon, the surroundings returned to normal, signifying the end of their warp travel. They then saw a floating station that appeared to be in pieces.
Frozen bodies floated in the void of space and debris filled the area. It was a massacre.
Carol sighed.
“Ronan has been gone a while. A few days at least.”
“Where do we go now?”
“Xandar. They might have some clues.”
“Alright.”
Benjamin nodded and Carol once again placed the coordinates and flew off.
After a while, they arrived at a blue planet that looked quite beautiful.
Carol opened up the communicator and reached out to her contact to let them know they would be arriving.
Soon, they entered the atmosphere and saw the lands. It was full of greenery.
It looks like a utopian version of Earth.
After finding a landing pod, Benjamin followed Carol out of the spaceship. As they did, they were greeted by rows of soldiers that wore golden helmets with a red plus-shaped star in the center.
Some had a full plus-shape, some only have a T-shape, some don’t even have any.
They also have varying numbers of circular plates on their chest.
Is this how they view ranks?
Then, a figure appeared and walked toward them. On both sides were two soldiers that looked different from the rest.
They had three circular plates on their bodies that form an inverted triangle and the red star on their helmet looked more prominent than the others.
The one approaching them was a woman wearing slim blue armor with golden linings and a red star on her waist.
She had long brown hair and her face had two colors unlike the others here. Surrounding her eyes was a light blue color while the rest of her skin was a healthy pink color.
Benjamin just didn’t know if this was her natural skin or if it's painted due to their customs or what.
Seeing this figure, Carol smiled and nodded at her.
“Queen Adora. It’s been a while.”
“Carol. It’s good to see you too.”
Adora smiled and held hands with Carol.
After greeting her, she then turned to look at Benjamin.
“This one is…?”
“This is Benjamin, my boyfriend.”
“Oh?”
Adora raised a brow and once again looked at Benjamin up and down.
“Hm, he certainly looks like a fine specimen.”
Benjamin could only smile awkwardly at that.
He cleared his throat and introduced himself.
“I’m Benjamin Freed. Feel free to call me Ben uhh, your Highness?”
Adora chuckled.
“No need for that. Since you’re Carol’s lover, then you can just call me Adora. Since Carol chose you, you must have something special about you. I’m curious as to what it is.”
“I’m just a normal earthling.”
Benjamin chuckled while Carol rolled her eyes.
What normal? If everyone on Earth is normal like you, the whole planet will be torn to shreds in a day!
Benjamin saw her look and knew she was accusing him. To change the topic, he asked her.
“So…you know a queen from another planet?”
Carol shrugged.
“Yeah well, Xandar was one of Kree’s targets in the past. Although they now have a peace treaty, no one knows how long that will last. I used to help them deal with Kree attacks before.”
“Carol is a hero to us Xandarians. They even built a statue of her.”
“What!?”
Carol was shocked when she heard what Adora said.
Benjamin laughed.
“Now I want to see that.”
Carol groaned. She knew that Benjamin’s gonna be making fun of this for a long long time.
The three continued to chat while walking to Adora’s palace.
When they reached the hall, they stopped laughing and went straight to business.
“Any ideas where Ronan is?”
Adora sighed and shook her head.
“No. I’ve been trying to contact the Kree empire, demanding an explanation but their response was always the same. That Ronan’s actions had nothing to do with them and refused any responsibility.”
Carol also sighed.
“Typical Kree Empire. But they might be right this time.”
“What do you mean?”
Benjamin asked.
“Remember when I told you I’ve been trying to track Ronan before? It’s cause I found out that he’s also connected to the Mad Titan who was responsible for the attack in New York back then.”
“Thanos?”
Adora frowned.
She was naturally aware of the Mad Titan’s…reputation.
“You think he’s behind this as well?”
“Could be. But why attack a prison?”
“It must be to break out Thanos’ daughter, Gamora.”
Adora sighed and explained further.
“A few days back, we caught a few people causing a ruckus here in Xandar. One of them was Gamora, Daughter of Thanos.”
Carol also sighed but nodded.
“Alright, I’ll see if my contacts know where she is.”
However, just as they were concluding their discussion, a soldier appeared in the hall and reported.
“Your Highness, one of the prisoner escapees contacted us with a message.”
Adora frowned at that.
“What message.”
“Ronan is coming. And he has with him an Infinity Stone.”
“...And you believe him?”
The soldier shrugged.
“He said that he just escaped prison and has no reason to help us. Also, he says he’s an a-hole but he’s not, and I’m quoting him here, a 100% dick.”
“...”
Adora and Carol were a bit speechless at that while Benjamin just chuckled.
After a while, Adora looked at Carol who nodded at her.
“Very well. There’s no harm in being more prepared. Call the Centurions and evacuate the citizens!”
“As you command!”
The soldier saluted and quickly left.
Carol approached Adora and patted her shoulder.
“Don’t worry. Me and Ben will be here to help.”
Adora smiled weakly but still nodded.
“Thank you. But I’m not sure we’ll survive this even with your help. If what he said was true and Ronan has an Infinity Stone…you must save yourself. Don’t die here, Carol.”
However, Carol shook her head.
“No one will be dying here. Even if that guy has an Infinity Stone. We have Ben!”
Benjamin smiled and shook his head.
“Aren’t you being too confident about me?”
“You’re the most powerful person I know, of course, I’m confident!”
Beside them, Adora looked at Benjamin in surprise.
For Carol to be that confident about him…is he really that powerful?
Carol also whispered to Benjamin.
“Besides, don’t you have the Tesseract? If it comes to it, we’ll fight Infinity Stone with Infinity Stone.”
“Well, that’s a good point.”
Although Benjamin also has another Infinity Stone, the Soul Stone…
After discussing for a while, Adora left and started issuing orders to her Nova Corps.
Chapter 75: Xandar
“Uhh, why do I feel like I was just called to the Principal’s office?”
Gwen asked nervously.
Benjamin chuckled and shook his head.
“Relax. I didn’t call you here to reprimand you or anything. I just want to know if you’re adjusting to our world well or not.”
“Oh, I’m doing good-...uhh I mean, what do you mean our world? Aren’t I also from this world?”
Benjamin just smiled and didn’t answer.
Although the multiverse isn’t exactly a part of his jurisdiction, if their problem becomes a problem of their world as well, then he needs to intervene immediately.
Well, Benjamin didn’t say all that for now and simply nodded.
“Well, as long as you’re doing fine. Remember, you can rely on me if something happens.”
“...Understood.”
“Alright, you’re free to go.”
Gwen nodded and left his office.
As soon as she closed the door behind her, she sighed.
Does…he know? But how? I’ve been very careful since entering this world…
Gwen sighed again and shook her head.
From the looks of it, Benjamin wasn’t going to do anything to her even though he knows she was not from this world.
She just has to continue as she normally would…and hopefully, everything works out well.
Time passed.
Benjamin continued to work as usual and on the weekend, he trained Illyana, Jean, and Laura in the X-Mansion.
One day, Carol came to find him.
“Ben, you’re here.”
“What’s up? Need me for something?”
“Just wanted to see you before I leave. I’m about to head back to space. A contact of mine told me that Ronan the Accuser has attacked a Xandarian prison. He’s one of the old Kree fanatics and someone I’ve been trying to track for a while now.”
“Ronan the Accuser? Xandarian prison?”
Benjamin was a bit surprised.
He thought these names seemed familiar and suddenly remembered.
Are the events of the Guardians of the Galaxy finally happening now?
Well, it could be different. Still, there was no harm in checking.
Benjamin was also quite curious about space and the situation on Earth was more or less stable.
“Can I come with?”
“Huh? You want to come with me?”
“Yeah. Once we’re done, I can just open a portal back to Earth.”
“How about the EPD?”
“Fury and the others can handle things. It’s been pretty quiet lately. Besides, I can return immediately if there are any emergencies.”
Carol was surprised to hear him want to come but was quite happy for the company.
“That’s good then! Shall we go?”
“Give me a sec. I’ll tell Nat and the others first.”
Benjamin then called Natasha and informed her that he’ll be in space with Carol for a while.
“Alright, stay safe. And don’t bring back too many alien girls.”
“I’m not going to look for alien girls.”
“No, but they’ll still come looking nonetheless.”
“...”
Benjamin didn’t know what else to say to that.
He also called Nick Fury and gave instructions.
Once everything was settled, he looked at Carol and nodded.
“I’m done. Let’s go.”
Carol nodded and led Benjamin to her ship.
Although they don’t really need a ship to fly in space, it was more convenient to travel in one after all.
Carol punched in the coordinates and the ship started to shoot into space.
As they entered warp, the space surrounding them seemingly began to stretch as they began to travel in lightspeed.
While waiting in the warp, Benjamin asked.
“So how many planets have you been on?”
“Uhh, a lot? I didn’t really keep count and some planets look alike. It isn’t as amazing as you think it is. Most of them are the same as Earth, just different cultures.”
Benjamin nodded.
Soon, the surroundings returned to normal, signifying the end of their warp travel. They then saw a floating station that appeared to be in pieces.
Frozen bodies floated in the void of space and debris filled the area. It was a massacre.
Carol sighed.
“Ronan has been gone a while. A few days at least.”
“Where do we go now?”
“Xandar. They might have some clues.”
“Alright.”
Benjamin nodded and Carol once again placed the coordinates and flew off.
After a while, they arrived at a blue planet that looked quite beautiful.
Carol opened up the communicator and reached out to her contact to let them know they would be arriving.
Soon, they entered the atmosphere and saw the lands. It was full of greenery.
It looks like a utopian version of Earth.
After finding a landing pod, Benjamin followed Carol out of the spaceship. As they did, they were greeted by rows of soldiers that wore golden helmets with a red plus-shaped star in the center.
Some had a full plus-shape, some only have a T-shape, some don’t even have any.
They also have varying numbers of circular plates on their chest.
Is this how they view ranks?
Then, a figure appeared and walked toward them. On both sides were two soldiers that looked different from the rest.
They had three circular plates on their bodies that form an inverted triangle and the red star on their helmet looked more prominent than the others.
The one approaching them was a woman wearing slim blue armor with golden linings and a red star on her waist.
She had long brown hair and her face had two colors unlike the others here. Surrounding her eyes was a light blue color while the rest of her skin was a healthy pink color.
Benjamin just didn’t know if this was her natural skin or if it's painted due to their customs or what.
Seeing this figure, Carol smiled and nodded at her.
“Queen Adora. It’s been a while.”
“Carol. It’s good to see you too.”
Adora smiled and held hands with Carol.
After greeting her, she then turned to look at Benjamin.
“This one is…?”
“This is Benjamin, my boyfriend.”
“Oh?”
Adora raised a brow and once again looked at Benjamin up and down.
“Hm, he certainly looks like a fine specimen.”
Benjamin could only smile awkwardly at that.
He cleared his throat and introduced himself.
“I’m Benjamin Freed. Feel free to call me Ben uhh, your Highness?”
Adora chuckled.
“No need for that. Since you’re Carol’s lover, then you can just call me Adora. Since Carol chose you, you must have something special about you. I’m curious as to what it is.”
“I’m just a normal earthling.”
Benjamin chuckled while Carol rolled her eyes.
What normal? If everyone on Earth is normal like you, the whole planet will be torn to shreds in a day!
Benjamin saw her look and knew she was accusing him. To change the topic, he asked her.
“So…you know a queen from another planet?”
Carol shrugged.
“Yeah well, Xandar was one of Kree’s targets in the past. Although they now have a peace treaty, no one knows how long that will last. I used to help them deal with Kree attacks before.”
“Carol is a hero to us Xandarians. They even built a statue of her.”
“What!?”
Carol was shocked when she heard what Adora said.
Benjamin laughed.
“Now I want to see that.”
Carol groaned. She knew that Benjamin’s gonna be making fun of this for a long long time.
The three continued to chat while walking to Adora’s palace.
When they reached the hall, they stopped laughing and went straight to business.
“Any ideas where Ronan is?”
Adora sighed and shook her head.
“No. I’ve been trying to contact the Kree empire, demanding an explanation but their response was always the same. That Ronan’s actions had nothing to do with them and refused any responsibility.”
Carol also sighed.
“Typical Kree Empire. But they might be right this time.”
“What do you mean?”
Benjamin asked.
“Remember when I told you I’ve been trying to track Ronan before? It’s cause I found out that he’s also connected to the Mad Titan who was responsible for the attack in New York back then.”
“Thanos?”
Adora frowned.
She was naturally aware of the Mad Titan’s…reputation.
“You think he’s behind this as well?”
“Could be. But why attack a prison?”
“It must be to break out Thanos’ daughter, Gamora.”
Adora sighed and explained further.
“A few days back, we caught a few people causing a ruckus here in Xandar. One of them was Gamora, Daughter of Thanos.”
Carol also sighed but nodded.
“Alright, I’ll see if my contacts know where she is.”
However, just as they were concluding their discussion, a soldier appeared in the hall and reported.
“Your Highness, one of the prisoner escapees contacted us with a message.”
Adora frowned at that.
“What message.”
“Ronan is coming. And he has with him an Infinity Stone.”
“...And you believe him?”
The soldier shrugged.
“He said that he just escaped prison and has no reason to help us. Also, he says he’s an a-hole but he’s not, and I’m quoting him here, a 100% dick.”
“...”
Adora and Carol were a bit speechless at that while Benjamin just chuckled.
After a while, Adora looked at Carol who nodded at her.
“Very well. There’s no harm in being more prepared. Call the Centurions and evacuate the citizens!”
“As you command!”
The soldier saluted and quickly left.
Carol approached Adora and patted her shoulder.
“Don’t worry. Me and Ben will be here to help.”
Adora smiled weakly but still nodded.
“Thank you. But I’m not sure we’ll survive this even with your help. If what he said was true and Ronan has an Infinity Stone…you must save yourself. Don’t die here, Carol.”
However, Carol shook her head.
“No one will be dying here. Even if that guy has an Infinity Stone. We have Ben!”
Benjamin smiled and shook his head.
“Aren’t you being too confident about me?”
“You’re the most powerful person I know, of course, I’m confident!”
Beside them, Adora looked at Benjamin in surprise.
For Carol to be that confident about him…is he really that powerful?
Carol also whispered to Benjamin.
“Besides, don’t you have the Tesseract? If it comes to it, we’ll fight Infinity Stone with Infinity Stone.”
“Well, that’s a good point.”
Although Benjamin also has another Infinity Stone, the Soul Stone…
After discussing for a while, Adora left and started issuing orders to her Nova Corps.
