At that moment, in the depths of space not far away, a small spacecraft moving at incredible speed was... drifting aimlessly along.
This small twin-wing craft shot through the edge of an asteroid belt like a meteor, trailing a long exhaust plume behind it, and in the blink of an eye it had already crossed an entire sector of space.
Inside the cockpit, pounding music that sounded extremely familiar to Earthlings—yet carried a distinctly retro vibe—was blasting at full volume.
A man at the front was snapping his fingers to the beat, occasionally nodding his head and swaying his hips. This man, radiating an aura of pure goofiness from every pore, was the leader of the Guardians of the Galaxy—Peter Jason Quill, also known as "Star-Lord."
The other five members of the Guardians were also in the cockpit: Gamora, Drax the Destroyer, Rocket Raccoon, the tree-like Groot, and Mantis. They came from different planets, and their mission to oppose Ronan had brought these people of vastly different fates together.
Even so, after becoming superheroes, they still carried themselves with a certain roguish swagger—which probably had something to do with their leader's personality.
Of course, originally, they should have met inside a prison cell.
But because the Orb that would have brought them together had already been obtained by Zodhis ahead of time, there was no Ravager subplot, nor any scenario forcing them to meet in a cell.
However, fate is a mischievous thing—and in the Marvel universe, fate was literally a real, conceptual god. So, through a coincidence, the Kree commander Ronan, who served Thanos, brought them together in their fight against him. And after a series of unexpected events...
Even Thanos's adopted daughter, Gamora, joined the team in a bizarre fashion. Originally, she should have been at Ronan's side, carrying out Thanos's orders to help Ronan seize the Orb and bring it back.
After all, Gamora was the deadliest assassin in the universe—her reputation was immense—and Thanos was confident she could handle Ronan alone and bring back the Orb (lol).
But because the Orb had already been taken by Zodhis, she naturally was never dispatched to Ronan's side. Instead, it was purely due to an assassination gone wrong that she ended up being saved by Star-Lord. And for some reason, Star-Lord fell for her at first sight and kept pestering—no, pursuing—her relentlessly until he finally moved her heart and convinced her to stay.
Groot, having never been stimulated by the Orb, still maintained the appearance of a small sapling.
Suddenly, the ship changed course and sharply accelerated, jolting Rocket Raccoon awake from his deep slumber. He complained:
"Guys, why are we on the move again? Didn't we agree today was a day off?"
Space travel was always tedious. Even though this ship was extraordinarily fast, cosmic distances were measured in light-years, and every voyage left body and mind exhausted. Having finally gotten a chance to rest, Rocket didn't want it delayed just because Star-Lord had another one of his brain farts.
"We picked up a distress signal. There might be casualties—we have to go check it out."
The one who answered was Gamora—Thanos's adopted daughter, a gorgeous alien woman with a smoking-hot figure. Aside from being a bit green, everything else about her was fantastic.
"Why do we have to go? Aren't you worried it might be a trap?" Rocket tried to save his vacation.
"Because we're the good guys!"
Star-Lord said with a face full of righteousness—before amending himself under Rocket's contemptuous stare.
"Maybe they'll give us some kind of reward. And if it is a trap, even better—we can rob them of everything they own."
"So that's what you really think!"
Rocket grumbled, his vacation ruined by the captain's selfish motives.
Star-Lord gestured with theatrical flair.
"Don't put it like that. It's not far anyway—won't take much time. Besides, we're the good guys. We should make fighting evil our mission. I can hardly wait to dispense some justice!"
"We're about to reach our destination."
Mantis was probably the only person on board still actually working.
"Alright, team, perk up. This trip might get a little dangerous, so everyone needs to look extra fierce."
Star-Lord, full of energy, directed the crew.
"You've got to be like me—make yourself look tall, mighty, and intimidating. Drax, when the two of us make our entrance, let out a roar. Establish dominance and scare them a bit."
"Quill, just give it up."
Drax, muscles bulging and face set in a permanent scowl, rolled his eyes.
"If you roar, the enemy will burst out laughing."
The cockpit erupted in gleeful jeers and mocking laughter. This band of unscrupulous misfits took turns verbally skewering Star-Lord, ridiculing how his beer belly could only be used for comedy and was hardly capable of producing any real intimidation.
Star-Lord felt deeply insulted and silently resolved to make everyone see him in a new light when he made his entrance—then pay them back with ten times the mockery.
The ship traveled at lightspeed, coming to a stop before a chaotic asteroid belt. The reason it was called "chaotic" was because the asteroids here didn't rotate according to any gravitational rules.
BOOM!
A thunderous explosion rang out. Just as the Guardians were searching for the source of the distress signal, a figure came hurtling backward, smashing through the rubble and flying right past them.
"You scrubs! Tremble and wail! ROOOAR——"
Star-Lord, who had summoned all his momentum for a mighty roar, saw the figure and his voice immediately cracked mid-roar.
"Roar—hic, squeak~"
Star-Lord's deflated, cutesy squeak didn't draw any teasing from his teammates, because everyone had been stunned by what they'd just witnessed. If their eyes weren't deceiving them, just now...
"G-Guys... what... what was that?"
Star-Lord's eyes were wide as saucers as he stammered out the question. Though there was an absolutely correct answer forming in his mind, instinctively, he wanted someone to confirm it.
Silence filled the ship. If they hadn't been seeing things, a Ronan had just been sent flying right before their eyes!
I am Groot!
I am Zhou... ahem—the tree-like Groot swayed in his flowerpot and answered.
"I am Groot!"
Star-Lord exhaled in relief, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and said calmly:
"So it was just a Groot. You scared me half to death—I thought Ronan had gotten beaten up. Hahaha..."
"What the f—! Groot my ass! Ronan got beaten up!"
And then the Guardians of the Galaxy watched, jaws agape, as an enormous blue giant flew toward them.
"What... is that?!"
None of them could express the shock in their hearts.
"That's the Ultraman of the Kryptonian Empire!"
Only the well-traveled Rocket and Gamora answered with grim expressions.
"What the hell is an 'Ultraman of the Kryptonian Empire'?"
The others still didn't understand.
"I am Groot!"
Groot voiced his own confusion.
"Ultraman are the soldiers of the Kryptonian Empire! The Kryptonian Empire has an entire legion of giants like this—they're the capital that lets them sweep across the universe!"
Rocket and Gamora roared in response.
/-\
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