31 Chapter 31

"You know, when I said you should address the people…I didn't mean it like that," Astrid said as she viewed multiple news feeds.

"Well, what was I supposed to say? 'Hi guys, I have no relation to the person in the video, thank you for your time'" I said mockingly.

"And how do you want to proceed now? The U.S. government is wanting to question you. They are ready to impose harsh restrictions on the company. I suspect that mutants will begin to come pouring in as well," Astrid began lecturing me.

"We do not have enough space to accommodate that many people without attracting unwanted attention," Erik said.

"Well we can just go to the planet I bought,"

"Do you think people are ready for that?" I asked Erik.

"I can begin debriefing them. It will be a shock for most people. Leaving their home planet isn't an easy transition, even for me,"

"Do you have information on the planet?" Erik asked.

"I can help with that," Astrid chimed in.

"I'll start to slowly transition people over. I'll ask for volunteers first and then move forward from there," Erik said.

"Good, I would start as soon as possible…"

"I have a feeling things will change drastically now," I finished speaking.

"Are you not able to see into the future anymore?" Erik asked.

"It's not the future that I saw. It's different realities. To you it might seem like I'm predicting the future but that's not that case,"

"For example, Spiderman wasn't supposed to be in the battle of New York," I said.

"Spiderman? That's the kid's name?" Erik questioned.

"Please, 'Magneto' who are you to talk?" Astrid said. Erik glared at her and crossed his arms.

"Anyways, yes, he wasn't supposed to be there. It's safe to assume that everything I know in terms of timeline is off the table. Maybe certain events stay but many things will change," I concluded.

"If you want to have a fighting force, we would need to recruit more people," Erik suggested.

"It wouldn't be a bad thing to do. Having a mixture of mutants and Sentinels would increase survival," Astrid said.

"I agree, just don't rush it. Have anyone interested still go through the screening process," I said and got up.

"Wait," Astrid said. Her eyes glowed momentarily and looked at me with a sad smile.

"The U.S. government has begun proceeding to seize the business. They are determining fair market value of the company," she finished speaking.

"They can do that?" Erik asked.

"Yeah, unfortunately they can. Begin the extraction protocol. Leave no technology behind. I'll play their little game" I said. Astrid just shook her head at me.

"Do you want to meet them?" she asked. I nodded.

"Just don't say anything stupid," Astrid commented.

"What's that suppose to mean?" I asked faking an anger tone.

"Really?" she said and waved her arms to show all the news outlets. Each one showed me and my speech. Some of the international news also aired me.

"Okay, okay, I got it," I said in defeat.

"I'll begin with the move. Let me know if you need me," Erik said as he got up and left.

"How has he been?" I asked.

"Coping very well. He has tackled every situation with a level head. His powers have also improved in control. Apparently, he can make a shield now," Astrid said.

Ah…Magneto's signature shield. So strong that in one of the different realities, it survived a nuclear attack on his island. It was a good thing I manage to convince him to join me. He would have been a difficult opponent.

"And the twin's?" I asked.

"They have been taken in by Hydra," she responded. I sighed at their decision. I wonder if I should have been more forceful.

"Do you want to extract them?"

"Does Erik know?" I asked.

"Yes, he seemed troubled by it. I believe he is holding back because he doesn't want to be forceful. It would seem he is looking at things from their perspective," she responded.

"Well, I guess we wait then. Schedule the meeting with the government. I'm going to the training room," I said and teleported.

I sat down and began to meditate. I began to look through the memories I got from Loki. I slowly combed through them and studied them. I came to realize that absorbing the memories was like as if they were my memories. If it wasn't for the stone, I would probably have some sort of personality disorder from the memory conflicts.

As I combed through the memories, I began to use my powers and wrote down all the magic theory and rules Loki learned. It would become useful for the Ancient One. I will definitely prevent her death. Even if she has already decided. Once I was done, I began to syphon energy from the Mind stone to create a fake one. I created a more powerful version than all the other fake stones incase Tony creates Vision. While he wasn't personally my favorite person, I would at least try to setup the sequence of events that led to his creation. From there, its out of my hands.

I had recreated the crystal-like structure that surrounded the stone and teleported to the staff's location. I found myself surrounded my scientist and some armed personnel. The armed guards were about to unholster their weapons when I froze everyone. I walked to the staff and placed the crystal back in the staff. I made sure it was firmly in place.

I thought about meddling with the memories of the people here, but It would take a lot of work to make sure everyone's memory regarding the staff was the same, including the people that were not here. I teleported back to the lab instead.

I checked a report Erik sent regarding the move to the new planet. They are nearly finished and moving the last few heavy objects. Because of the nanites, they were able to move a majority of the buildings over relatively easy. The nanites could shrink themselves and other objects which makes moving even faster. Erik did ask if they could name the planet. I didn't see any reason to deny that, so I replied and agreed.

I activated my armor and placed the Space stone on the center of my chest. The chest plate vibrated for a moment with the power flowing through it. I placed the Power stone on my right hand. Purple veins started to reach out but faded as the armor handled the stress. And finally, I placed the Mind stone on the front center of my helmet. There wasn't much stress as the Mind stone had a gentler energy flow. I breathed slowly and took control of the three energies. I sent my mental commands to the stones. I focused on the image of Carol and opened a portal to take me there. I was engulfed by a dark and blue smoke.

A sudden laser passed in front of my face, barely missing me. I took a step back and looked at my surroundings. Carol, Emma, and Tessa were fighting several Kree.

"Hey!" Carol said as she punched a Kree across the face, knocking him out.

"Finished with your stuff?" She said as she sent a blast of her energy to a nearby Kree. The Kree stood no chance and was flung to the wall.

"Sure did," I replied and waiting for her to finish. Tessa and Emma were taking down the other Kree at a frightening speed.

It only took a couple more seconds for all the Kree to be knocked out. Tessa and Emma greeted me and began to put handcuffs on all of them.

"So, how'd it go?" Carol asked as came close to me.

"I got it," I said as I motioned the Mind stone.

"It doesn't look at all powerful…" she came closer to inspect it. I had an urge to prove her otherwise but decided against it.

"It has the ability to read and take over someone's mind. It also has many other abilities besides that,"

"Hmm…Still doesn't look all that tough," Carol replied with a smug face.

"Well it is! Anyways what are you up to here?" she smiled at my attempt to change the subject.

"Just another Kree liberation. We're waiting for you though. Got another location we can go to help,"

"Oh? Where?" I asked curiously.

"When I was with the Kree, there was a race called the Cotati. Honestly, they are really cute. They are a plant life that used to be in Hala,"

Plant life? I immediately pictured Groot. "Do they have the appearance of a tree?" I asked.

"Not that I have seen. They were green and looked like giant grass with arms and legs," Carol answered. Carol turned her head to look at the Kree that were being put into the ship for transport. "I have a long way to go…"

"It wasn't you. You were manipulated," I placed my hand on her shoulder to comfort her. She still felt a lot of regret with helping the Kree in their battles. She cupped her fist in frustration. It did not go unnoticed by me.

"Let's go then. To those places. I'll help," I started to walk towards the ship.

"What about Earth?"

"They have their own teams of people now to deal with threats. I'll pay them a visit once the other stone appears. Besides, I know this is important for you," I smiled back at her. She smiled back at me.

"Thanks," she replied. She came closer to me as we boarded the ship.

The flight back to Xandar was short. Our space flight technology is still by far the most advance form of travel in the universe. We were all gathered in the bridge as the ship exited from its jump.

"Where to?" I asked. Tessa had begun to type furiously into a projected keyboard to land in accordance with Xandar laws. It was too much back and forth for me to bother remembering.

"Turn these guys over to Xandar and go pay the Broker a visit," Carol said as she gestured her head to the knocked out and cuffed Kree.

"What for?"

"Get any info on the Cotati," she looked at a display in front of her and bit her lip. "I was only there once but I have a feeling something changed,"

"Better safe than sorry, right?" I smiled at her to reassure her.

"Sorry to interrupt Ma'am but the they are requesting we drop off the captives at this location," Tessa look at the display in front of her and swiped it to appear in front of us.

"You and Emma go escort the Kree to that location. Come back to the ship once you're done," I refrained from saying anything so Carol could take charge. I didn't want to step over her shoes in taking command. "We'll go and speak with the Broker." Carol gave her orders to them as we landed the ship.

We were the first to leave as the hangar doors opened. We were greeted by members of the Nova Corp. Emma and Tessa began to gather the Kree soldiers and start the escort with the Nova Corp.

Carol and I started to walk towards the Broker's building while also enjoying some of the sights and food stands on the way.

As we entered the building, we heard a commotion at the front desk. I could see a blue head with a metal arc on the top of the head. I saw two other people next to him. My eyes widen when I saw Starlord.

"I ain't leaving till I get my credits!" Yondu scream at the Broker.

"And as I stated before, the contract was for the object to be intact. As you can see, it is shattered," Broker replied in a somewhat calm manner.

Starlord shifted his gaze to the door and onto us. He noticed my expression and smirk.

"Ugh," I couldn't help but express my disgust at him trying to hit on me.

We entered inside and waited at the far back. One of Yondu's henchmen noticed us and tapped on Yondu's shoulder.

"What?" He stopped talking to the Broker and turned angrily to his henchmen. He looked annoyed being disturb.

"We got company cap," Yondu turned slightly to face us and it allowed the Broker to have a look at us as well. The Broker's eye lit up when he saw us, completely forgetting about Yondu.

"Ah! Welcome! Welcome!" The Broker said waving us closer. "Come! I have the information you requested,"

We walked closer and I noticed how Yondu was getting angry that we were created very differently than he was. I let Carol go in front of me while I tried to defuse the situation.

"Yondu right?" I asked walking closer.

"And who are you?" He squinted his eyes at me. I could tell he was trying to recall if he knew me.

"Just a bounty hunter," I stopped and leaned on the front desk. I hoped that the Broker didn't hear that otherwise it'll be hard getting out without some fight.

"Well, we got business here and we were here first,"

"Yeah! What the old man said!" Peter said besides him.

"All done here," Carol said as she came next to me.

"Good luck with your transaction," I said smiling and turn to head to the door.

"Well now that you've calm down after talking with your old friend, shall we resume?" The Broker said all too happily. I stopped walking. Carol noticed it and turned to look at me confused.

"Old friend?" Yondu asked.

"Well, yes she is the person you sent, is she not?" The Broker happily said. "Ever since that, business has been very good."

"Is that so? Well ain't that somethin' boys" I sighed knowing where this was going. "Ah! I remember now. That's right, you still owe me some credits for that. Ain't that right missy?"

"No… I don't think I do," I turned to face him and glared at him.

"It's only fair right?" He continued to press. I let out another sigh. I brought out my helmet with contained the Mind stone and activated it.

"Lyd!" Carol called out my name.

"I'm not doing much. Just altering it so the Broker never said anything," I said and froze them in place. I removed the most recent memories and made it look like we just felt. I turned to leave with Carol behind me.

"You can't solve all your problems with that stone," she continued to scold me.

"I would have used my telepathy, but it doesn't work on aliens, so I had to use the stone to get that extra kick," I start to walk towards the direction of the ship. "And I know you don't like me using them, but its okay. It doesn't hurt anymore."

Carol was a bit traumatized after seeing me burnt up from using the Power stone. I can understand her side of things. Its something that's not easy to get rid of.

"About adding a fourth stone? Isn't that too much power?" she asked stopped walking. I turned to look at her and I got see the concern in her face. Her arms were crossed.

"I don't know, honestly. The Mind stone has by far been the gentlest out of the 3. The Reality stone could fall somewhere between them,"

"Can't we just look for Thanos and stop him?"

"We could, but I doubt we can find him so easily. He has to make a move soon in order to get the gauntlet. I let some nanites where the dwarfs are, so I'll know when to stop him," I looked at my hands and firmly made a fist.

"I'll stop him for sure," I said confidently. Carol grabbed my hands, making me look up at her.

"We'll stop him," she said and kissed me. I was too lost in the kiss that I forgot we were in the middle of the street. People passing us were smiling and pointing while others gave disapproving looks.

We continued walking to the ship. Tessa and Emma were already on board. Our reputation with the Nova Corps has gone up since we keep returning with captures Kree. Any information they can get out of them is useful for their war efforts. I began to start absorbing the energies of the stones until I was interrupted.

I looked to see Emma notifying me that Astrid was trying to contact me. I enabled my communications on my helmet and accept the link.

"Astrid?"

"Just the update you wanted. The migrating of all our assets have been completed," Multiple displays were brought up for me to look at. It displayed several of our buildings and lands that are now empty. Everything has been moved over to the new planet.

"I had to recall our agents under cover to have adequate protection for the planet. That presents a new problem," I saw how several new displays contained corporations and organizations that were up to no good. We definitely don't have the manpower to protect two worlds sufficiently.

"There's no one left to monitor the situation in Earth," I commented.

"Correct, the number of Sentinels in production has decreased to accommodate the construction of building infrastructure, ship building, and other necessities." The screens all changed to different charts and numbers representing our resources. "We are increasing the number mutants everyday now, with most of them not wanting to take part of military, the logistical burden has increase."

"Okay, I understand. Let's increase the benefits from being a member of the security force and scout for mutants with abilities to help ease the burden. Also, offer benefits for other people or mutants that are peaceful who are willingly to help us with the burdens," I made my way to the office and sat down to look at the data.

"What of Earth?"

"Can we afford for one person to go?"

"We can"

"Ask Erik to send one of his best. Not Selene, we still need her to check incoming residents,"

"I'll inform him now. Where to next?"

"We're going to visit a race called the Cotati. Carol wants to liberate them from Kree control." I continued to look at the other reports as we were talking.

"I'm sure that's made your reputation with Xandar better at least,"

"I hope so. By the way, how are the Skrulls?" I asked. It has been a while since we last got an update from them. I wonder what Wendy asked.

"I have communicated with Wendy a while ago, and everything looks to be going well. Their presence has not been detected by the Kree or by anyone else for that matter. So far, they just seem to focus on housing and farming," She displayed a few pictures that Wendy sent over.

We continued to talk about other projects and progress reports of other members. Erik had brought up a concern regarding some sort of governing body. The population has increased to a point where the need for structure was needed. Astrid gave me several suggestions. We ended up with inspirations from different ideologies. I left the naming for everything to Erik and Astrid. I got a notification from Emma that we had arrived at our destination.

We arrived quickly on the Cotati's home planet. I looked at the visual display and saw a planet similar to Mars except with some dark clouds and areas of green.

"…no," I heard Carol's whisper next to me. I turned to see her shocked expression. I turned to see the screen again and saw an explosion occur in another location.

"Carol?" I asked looking for some information. Her expression changed from shock to anger as she looked at me. I connected the dots right away. The Kree were destroying this planet.

"Emma and Tessa, search and destroy all Kree ships in the vicinity," I grabbed Carol's shoulder and teleported near the explosion I saw.

Our suits activated to shield us from the heat and smoke. I looked at the crater where the blast happened. The devastation was immense. Trees were burned to ash closer to the center. I could see the plant life creatures running while on fire.

A boom caught my attention. I looked up to see a Kree warhead about to make another impact. I activated the Space and Power stone. I reached out with my hand and stopped the warhead. I teleported it back into space, away from the planet.

I turned to see Carol turn into her Binary form. She has grown stronger than before. I didn't think it would be possible, but she did it. She launched herself forward leaving me behind. I sighed and slowly followed her trail. She was definitely faster than me when it comes to flying. I found her on her knees near a burnt clearing. She was in front of burning tree. She had tears running down her eyes as I came closer.

It was a good thing Carol wasn't telepath. She wouldn't be able to handle all the screams of agony surrounding the area. It felt like I was back in the hospital during the wars.