Issue 102: The Amazing Web Part 16

Peter and MJ dodged and weaved between the laser fire and started to take out their opponents with ease. 

Rocket shot back while Wasp and Ant-Man shrank down and flew into battle.

Magneto used his abilities to crush their weapons while Charles would you his telekinesis to restrain them and put them to sleep.

Flicks of silver blurs would appear while men were flung in different directions before blasts of red chaotic energy would slam men into the wall.

"Men! HOLD YOUR POSITION! TASER FACE DEMANDS IT!"

"Hah! Did you hear that name Quill?! What a stupid name?!" Rocket said as he shot a guy dead in the chest.

Quill blasted some men with ice and fire as he cracked a smile, "And you said my naming sense is bad."

"I mean," Rocket dodged a guy trying to tackle him and hopped of his head while shooting dozen of more men, "Who names themselves that?! What did he just wake up one day, look in the mirror, and decide, today, today I'm gonna make people call me Tas…pphhahahahaha, Taser Face! AHAHAHHA!"

"I am Groot!" Groot drew people in and knocked them out with powerful punches.

Gamora jumped past a man with giant rocket propelled weapon and threw him into another guy before grabbing the weapon and firing down a corridor. Once it exploded, dozens of men came out of hall, all of them on fire.

MJ splashed them with water then electrocuted them before Peter dodged another laser and punched a guy so hard that his whole body was imprinted into the metal interior of the ship.

"So, which one of you is Taser Face," Peter smirked as he looked at the alien in question.

The one calling himself as such looked around and said, "I…"

Peter hit him in the face with some taser webbing and said, "You have poor taste in names."

"Ahahaahaha! Did you just tase Taser Face in the face? That was classic!" Rocket kicked a space pirate in the gut before he looked down at him with a smile.

"What do want from me, furry demon?!"

"Hey, I kind of like that…give me that eye!" Rocket grinned as he caught the Ravager in question shaking in his boots.

"Please don't kill me!" He held out the eye while shaking like a grass during a windstorm.

"Relax; we haven't killed anyone…yet…" The man quivered even more before Rocket leaned close to him and said, "Boo."

After he passed out, Groot came up and said his usual three lines.

"What? That was funny!"

"This is weird," Quill commented as he noticed that enemies were all easily being taken care of.

"What?" Drax asked as he picked a guy up and tossed him onto the ground.

"Yondu isn't here. This is his crew, but I don't see him in sight at all."

"That's because he was taken captive…" Kraglin Obfonteri spoke up as he peeked around the corner, "Was a coo, you see…"

"Coupe, there was a coupe," Peter sighed as he webbed another guy to the wall while tilting his head to avoid the laser.

"Hah! HAHAHAHAH!" Quill started laughing as he walked over towards Kraglin and said, "Take me to him."

"R…right…"

While the Avengers cleared out the ship and made sure they didn't miss anything, Peter and MJ walked alongside Guardians of the Galaxy until they ended up at the brig.

Seeing the small cell Yondu was stuck in, Quill smirked as placed his head against the bars as he said, "Well, looks like consequence finally bit you in the ass."

"What…Quill? What are you doing here boy,"

"Really, you were chasing us, don't play dumb."

"Do I look like I'm in any condition to chase after you? My men betrayed me, wanted that bounty the Sovereigns put on ya. Not to mention that fast ship of yours. You had a lot of people looking for who made it…my men wanted it for themselves. I was against it…" Yondu eyed his first mate, "So, they planned a mutiny." 

"I swear cap, I wasn't part of that…"

"Sure, you weren't. Where's my control device,"

"I'll get it for you," 

"No, you won't," Quill barked.

"Why not? Seeing as you're here, I know you already captured my ship. All my men betrayed me, and I can go ahead forget about getting back any funds I carried with me, so what'cha afraid of? Not much I can do to ya."

"Did you forget…I was twelve maybe eleven…you once locked me up in here because I tried to get back home."

"And?"

"Really? That's all you can say? 20 years, Yondu, 20 years you kept me against my will. Now I finally get to see the man that kidnapped me in the similar position. It's very cathartic."

 "Hi," Peter interrupted while he waved his hand.

"Who are you?" Yondu questioned.

"The guy who made his ship. Also, the same guy who will be confiscating your flagship," Peter looked around at the cramped space, "Hey, wanna tell me why you took Quill from Earth? I could let you out and give you a ship to get back to…well I guess you don't have a place to go back to."

"Guess you didn't hear. His daddy is some big-time emperor. Figured I could earn a few bucks buy ransoming him. Deal fell through and I took a liking to the brat and let him stick around. I figured it was better putting him back on that rock and taught him everything he knows. Fat lot that did me. Raised him like my own and he stabs me in the back first chance he gets."

"Raise me? You starved me, beat me, worked me to the bone, and threatened to let your crew eat me."

"That last bit was a joke! Everything else was just me helping you build character."

"I was a KID! Wait, back up, he's an emperor?" Quill's eyes bulged.

"Yeah, you could have been a big payday, but dear old daddy wanted nothing to do with him."

"It's strange you say that Yondu, because his daddy's just outside this ship, and according to him, he's been looking for a way back to Quill for a long time."

"He's here?" Yondu's eyes widened before he jumped up at the railing, "Quill, you can't go with him. Whatever you do, you have to stay away from that man."

"Why the hell should I listen to you?"

"You don't understand, you can't…that man is a monster, Quill. Taking his job was the worst decision of my life," Yondu squeezed his hands around the bars of the cell, "Quill…I was supposed to take you to him along with your mommy. It was supposed to be a simple pickup and delivery, but I waited too long. Eventually, when I finally got around to it…the orders changed. He had me bringing kids to him from other places, almost like he was avoiding you. I thought nothing of it, but those kids never came back…I broke the code of the Ravagers, never take jobs with kids involved."

"Wait, Space Pirate Code? Don't mess with children? I never thought I'd say I have some respect for a bunch of criminals," MJ commented.

"The Ravagers ain't criminals. Not when we first started out anyways. We were mercenaries that took the more dangerous jobs. Traffic materials or people through heavily guarded sections of space, got armies what they needed to escape or fight back against the Kree, we we're insurgents. It wasn't until we were betrayed that we became Pirates…even then, our goals remained the same. We don't pirate from just anybody…we got a strict code of ethics too."

"If that's true, then why did you go through with the jobs?" Quill asked with a sickened expression. 

"We…I was in a bad place. I thought it harmless, an easy job, just ferry some kids to another planet. A man of your father's stature wouldn't do anything that would ruin his reputation, and the money was too good to pass up. I didn't know what would happen."

Peter was very confused. His identity of an emperor didn't match up with movie canon. But the story was the same. At least certain parts of it, "Is a combination of the movie and comic lore?"

"There's something weird about that planet. My men didn't come back after finding the bodies."

Quill frowned, "What do you mean bodies?"

"It was the kids…It's why I took you, boy. If I didn't, he'd just hire someone else that would. I couldn't take it, the blood is on my hands, and I didn't want anymore."

MJ clenched her fists. She couldn't imagine the guy they just met killing children. She wanted nothing more than to strangle him, but she didn't know if Yondu was lying to save his own skin.

"We have no way of knowing if this isn't some lie," Spider-Woman crossed her arms.

"I guess we'll have to go with him to figure out the truth," Peter said as he leaned against the wall.

"You can't, I just told that planet is weird. Something about it…it changes the people who go on it. Take me to the helm…I'll show ya'll my men's footage."

"How can we be sure that this isn't some trick?" Gamora asked.

"I swear on my honor as a Ravager, I got proof."

Peter opted to let the guy out as he hit the release switch and said, "Well, show me your evidence."

"Thank you…Yondu walked out before his first mate handed over his control comb.

"I save it for ya, boss."

Yondu put it back on his head and whistled. His arrow shot through the wall and hovered above his head before he grabbed it and stashed it away in his coat.

"Well, move," Quill crossed his arms while tapping his foot.

Rocket poked him in the back with his Multi-Gun, "This thing has 20 different settings, and if you try anything funny, I make sure you live long enough to see all of them."

"Right then…follow me."

The group did but kept their guard up. Eventually, they ended up on the bridge before Yondu looked around, "Huh…I can't access the ship's logs."

"I'll fix that. Webster, return power to the computers please," Peter held his hand out.

The screen popped on before Yondu started typing into the console. While he looked for the file, Quill noticed the troll bobble head near the window.

"I thought you said you threw this away."

"I did…that's where it landed," Yondu deflected as he turned his head and said, "I found it."

The screen popped up and showed Yondu slipping a tracker on the kids before looking at the camera.

"The moment he leaves, you find that beacon." Yondu gave the order.

"You got it boss," The Ravager called out.

"Good, now get to work."

"Do I have to go?" The voice of a girl called out.

"Yeah, little lady, I was told your father is down there. You finally get to meet him."

The camera revealed a girl with purple skin and dark black hair.

"Will I really meet my daddy?"

"I gave him my word," Yondu said to hurry things up.

They then watched the girl board a ship and travel to what Peter knew as the living planet Ego. However, in the movies, they made Ego a Celestial. He wasn't sure anymore if this was the same in his universe. If they were a fusion of both, then they might have some issues with going there. Comic Ego had a bunch of abilities that Movie Ego didn't show. 

Comic-Ego was busted. He was capable of creating life, recreating landscapes with the exact properties of a place like Asgard, controlling gravity, shapeshifting, and the ability to devour other worlds. He was on par with a being like Galactus, add Celestial blood into the mix, and even Peter was unsure if he was a match for the being.

The video footage showed the exchange with J'son and the child before the Ravagers left and went into hiding. It went dark before Yondu pulled up another video.

"This was taken eight months later."

His men had waited for Ego to leave the planet and when he finally did, they reentered the planet.

The men tracked the location to a blocked off cavern and went inside to see the pile of bones with the body of the girl they left on top mostly decayed.

Yondu clenched his fist as he looked away from the screen.

However, his on-screen voice came through loud and clear.

"Get out of there, boys. Get back to the ship."

"I don't want to," The Ravager said as he dropped his weapon and starting walking off.

"The hell are you doing?"

"Oh, Yondu, this wasn't part of the deal," The voice of J'son echoed in the room.

A strange creature that looked like it was partially made of glowing liquid appeared from the wall. It had a single glowing eye, no face, and a hexagonal shaped head.

The strange creature walked up to the camera and spoke with a command and authority that caused Yondu to shiver.

"I tried to settle this in a way that benefits us both, but now I have no choice but to use coercion. There's no hiding it anymore, so why don't you finish your jobs that I paid you oh so much for."

"What in god's name makes you think I'll do anything you want... and give me back my men."

"No, they belong to me now, and if you don't want your Ravager buddies to figure out you've been trafficking kids, you'll do as I say."

There was a sudden silence in the video feed.

"You know what? Do it. Don't ever contact me again. If I see you, the first thing I'll do is run my arrow through your skull."

"Oh, do you think I'm bluffing," Ego tilted his creation's strange head.

"Don't care, they'll understand…they have to," Yondu lied to himself as he shut of the communications.

The screen went dark as everyone had the same grim expression on their faces.

"As you can imagine, they didn't understand. I was kicked out, and the first thing I did was go to Terra so I could save you."

"The hell was that thing?"

Peter frowned and pulled up his trusty search bar. He looked for the planet Ego's history and became quite annoyed.

During the first days of creation, a great war enveloped the universe between two types of Celestials, those on the side of creation and order, and the corrupted. Eventually, the head of a dead celestial was semi-revived by merging with the living planet. The ancient god-like being's head fell to Ego roughly a trillion years ago. Slowly the planet devoured the head and the Celestial and the combined consciousness of the two formed into the planet known as Ego.

Several hundred years after gaining consciousness, a visitor landed on his surface to check the damages his ship had suffered through in a fierce battle with the Badoon. The visitor was the very same J'son that had just recently become an emperor after the assassination of his parents. 

While he was stranded on the living planet until he could repair his ship, he was infected with spores Ego had grown to try and understand the humanoid creature that was now walking on him. 

A couple years passed, and with enough time, he eventually made it off of Ego, but he hadn't completely fixed his ship and it broke down on his way back to Spartax. He crashlanded on Earth, met Meredith, and left to help his people finish the war. However, the closer he got to Ego, the more sentient the spores from the planet became, and in the end, it made its way into J'son's brain and started to whisper things to him. 

Eventually, the Emperor found himself under the control of Ego and back on that planet he was stranded on all those years ago. His genes altered, manipulated into making a better host body, and after much discussion, the two came to an agreement.

J'son would help Ego with whatever plan he had, in turn, Ego would help his empire win the war and run it with him.

However, J'son hadn't realized what it was that Ego wanted. The years passed as they shared a body, when Ego slept, J'son was in charge. However, when J'son slept, Ego would further his plans to spread himself out amongst the cosmos.

During that time, he sired many children, Mantis included, and as promised the Spartax Empire not only won the war but grew to be one of the most technologically advanced species in the galaxy. However, when J'son became aware of what Ego was doing, he tried to end their relationship.

Ego didn't like that very much and showed J'son just how little control he had over his life anymore. Should he ever try to renege on their deal, he would not take complete control of the body, but he would destroy every last planet the Spartax had inhabited.

"This…could be an issue," Peter rubbed his chin.