At the feet of the raccoon—
A tiny figure made of bark slowly staggered upright.
He was only about two feet tall. Tender green shoots sprouted from the top of his head, and his wide eyes blinked innocently as he looked around. A little bit of green tree sap dripped from his mouth.
"I am Groot…"
The little sapling rubbed his head. His voice was soft and sleepy, as if he had just woken up from a nap.
"Hey! Don't wipe your tree juice on my gun! That's a custom model!" the raccoon shouted angrily.
The last one to crawl out of the ship looked like a slightly cross-eyed underling with a somewhat shady expression. He clung to the hatch door while vomiting violently.
This strange four-member group—
Was none other than the Ravager crew that had been performing insane consecutive jumps in order to rendezvous with Star-Lord:
Yondu Udonta
Rocket Raccoon
Groot (Baby Groot)
and their unfortunate subordinate Kraglin Obfonteri.
After a moment, the four finally steadied themselves.
They looked up—
Only to see Jane and Thor standing ready for battle.
Yondu narrowed his eyes.
His gaze moved from the hammer in Jane's hand to the massive wrench in Thor's.
"Looks like we ran into some natives."
He casually blew a whistle.
"WHEEE—!"
Instantly, a red arrow shot up from his belt and hovered beside his shoulder.
The glowing tip of the Yaka Arrow pointed directly at Jane's forehead, pulsing with a dangerous crimson light.
"Doesn't look like they're very friendly."
Rocket also raised the oversized energy cannon in his paws and pointed it straight at Thor.
Even though he barely reached Thor's knee—
His arrogance was absolutely unmatched.
"Hey! Big guy!"
"Put that thing down! Or I'll blast your head into rotten watermelon!"
Thor looked down at the wrench in his hand.
Then at the raccoon.
"…A rabbit?" he said, confused.
"This talking rabbit is threatening me?"
"RABBIT?!"
Rocket absolutely hated being called rabbit, raccoon, or ferret.
"I'm Rocket! Rocket the Great, you blonde monkey!"
"I am Groot," Baby Groot added helpfully from the side.
Thor straightened his posture and shouted with authority:
"This is Midgard, under the protection of Asgard! Identify yourselves immediately, outsiders! Lay down your weapons—or—"
"Midgard?" Rocket asked.
"Midgard?" Yondu squinted, revealing a mouth full of crooked teeth.
"That's what the Asgardians call Terra."
"Terra?" Rocket froze for a moment.
Then he burst into loud, shrill laughter.
"Hahahahaha!"
"Yondu! Did you hear that?! That idiot Quill's hometown—Earth!"
"That's the most backward backwater in the entire galaxy! These country bumpkins probably haven't even heard of sublight engines!"
"Backwater?"
Jane's eyebrows shot up instantly.
As an astrophysicist—and now a newly awakened goddess of thunder—she had zero tolerance for that kind of arrogance.
She lifted Mjolnir.
Lightning crackled around her body.
"Alright."
"The raccoon."
"The blue guy."
"The scavenger."
"And the tree sapling."
Jane pointed the hammer at the four of them as thunder danced across her armor.
"Explain yourselves."
"Who you are."
"Where you came from."
"And where you're going."
"Or I'll show you exactly what backwater anger looks like!"
"Hey, lady."
Yondu grinned, showing his jagged teeth.
"In the galaxy, nobody threatens Yondu."
"Wait! Wait!" Kraglin suddenly shouted.
He pointed frantically at the hammer in Jane's hand.
"Boss! Look at the hammer!"
"Isn't that… one of those Asgard things?!"
Yondu froze for a moment and examined Mjolnir more carefully.
"Asgard…"
His expression turned slightly more serious.
As a veteran Ravager, he knew exactly what Asgard meant.
They were a race of legendary war maniacs who had once stirred up countless galactic conflicts—though they had calmed down a lot in recent centuries.
"Alright, alright."
Yondu quickly switched to a friendly smile and raised both hands to show he meant no harm.
"Easy there, lady."
"We're just… passing through."
"Got lost, you see?"
"We were heading to Ego's planet, and suddenly some idiot opened a hole in space around here and sucked us in."
"Ego's planet?" Jane frowned slightly and lowered her battle stance.
"You're saying… our experiment pulled you here?"
"Your experiment?"
Rocket hopped forward and pointed at the enormous metal ring behind them.
"That junk heap?!"
"Ha! I knew it!"
"This primitive jump tech is like throwing nails onto the interstellar highway!"
"You people owe us compensation!"
"Compensation?" Thor said, clearly irritated.
"You crashed into our equipment and now you want us to pay you?"
"And another thing!"
Thor pointed his thumb at his own chest.
"You called me a blonde monkey earlier!"
"I am Thor, son of Odin! The God of Thunder!"
"God of Thunder?"
Rocket examined Thor from head to toe.
"Do gods nowadays usually carry wrenches?"
"Are you sure you're not the God of Tightening Bolts?"
That single line pierced straight through Thor's heart.
"I—"
Thor's face flushed red.
"I'm working! Do you understand? Working!"
"Alright, enough!" Yondu interrupted.
"Listen, Hammer Girl."
Yondu looked directly at Jane.
"I think you understand now. It's all a misunderstanding."
"We'll fix the ship and leave."
"No need for violence."
Jane studied the strange alien visitors.
They looked bizarre.
And a little dangerous.
But they didn't seem like the Chitauri—mindless invaders bent on conquest.
"…Alright."
"If it's a misunderstanding, then it's simple."
She turned toward the stunned staff nearby.
"Seal the area. Record all the data."
Then she pulled out her phone.
"For things like this…"
"It's better to call a professional."
The call connected.
"Hello, Mr. Starr."
"Yes… the experiment had a small accident."
"No, not an explosion."
Jane glanced at Rocket, who was currently trying to secretly dismantle parts of the test equipment.
"We… caught a few aliens."
"A raccoon."
"A tree."
"A scavenger."
"And a blue guy with a mohawk."
"…Yes. They said they're heading to Ego's planet."
"…Alright. We'll wait for you."
She hung up and gave Yondu and the others a polite smile.
"Don't wander off."
"Our boss will be here shortly."
"Boss?" Rocket scoffed and continued fiddling with a random mechanical part.
"In a civilization that can't even leave its own asteroid belt?"
"What kind of impressive boss could they possibly have?"
"Even the galaxy-terrorizing Accuser Ronan the Accuser got taken down by me!"
"I'm Rocket the Great!"
"I am Groot," the little tree added approvingly.
-----
Vought Tower — Antony's New Office
Antony was lying comfortably on a massage bed, enjoying Skynet's professional massage.
"How does it feel, Mr. Starr?" Skynet asked softly while expertly pressing along his shoulders.
"Perfect," Antony murmured with his eyes closed.
"Only downside is it's a little expensive in terms of nutrition drinks."
"Bzzz—"
Suddenly—
The phone on the desk vibrated.
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T/N:
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