33 Wish u were Here part 2 (1/2)

Any reservations Jessica may have had about their trip evaporated as soon as they left Earth's upper atmosphere. As Naruto went into full throttle towards the Jump Point in between Earth and its moon, the void of space became a glorious blur.

Gripping the arm of her seat tightly, Jessica had felt her stomach lift up into her lungs as they hit top speed. All the while; Thor cheered, Illyana giggled gleefully, and Naruto grinned like a madman as the ship rocketed towards its Jump Point.

Eventually, after several minutes, Jessica grew accustomed to the speed. And, though she fought it, a grin spread along her face as she realized just how special this day was. She was flying through the void of space, a passenger of an alien craft that was taking to a place literally called nowhere.

The boys back home would be jealous.

But, like all good things, it came to an end. One jump after another, the novelty of it began to fade away. And soon boredom filled its place.

Behind her, Illyana read from a worn tome, flipping through it slowly as she took in the mystic knowledge. Thor had taken to flipping his hammer in his hand, catching it effortlessly as he watched the stars blur by.

Naruto was the only one seemingly lacking any boredom, though that likely came from piloting a spacecraft going well over a thousand miles per hour.

Needing to break the monotony, Jessica turned to the Uzumaki, ”So this…stone, what does it do exactly?”

”Ask Thor.” Naruto offered, ”He's the one that almost got killed by it.”

Thor looked up at the attention, catching Mjolnir in his hand deftly, ”Well, it's not really a stone so much as a sludgish, jelloy kind of thing. But either way, it is dangerous. I'd advise you not to touch it if you can.”

”Then how are we grabbing it, exactly?” Illyana questioned.

”Rest assured, it is incased in an Asgardian lockbox.” Thor answered coolly, once again flipping Mjolnir, ”The Collector would be a fool to open it, so it should still be contained when we go to collect it for ourselves.”

”What would it do, if he were foolish enough?” Asked Jessica, her full attention hanging off Thor's answer.

”It is difficult to define.” Thor said, catching the handle of his hammer before tossing it back up again, ”If one were to simply hold the stone with zero way of control, it could cut a hole into the fabric of reality itself, altering everything that is known and unknown to its very core.”

”And with control?” Jessica hesitated to ask.

”With control, reality has no meaning or definition. It is to do with as you like.”

”That's…scary.” Illyana muttered, the large tome no longer on her mind.

”Which is why we're going after it, so that kind of thing doesn't happen.” Naruto said distractedly, just before an alert popped up on his dashboard, ”Heads up guys, this jump is the last one. We'll be at Knowhere in a couple minutes.”

In those passing minutes, Jessica silently prepped her sidearm, puling back the hammer as she looked into the prepped bullet sitting within the chamber.

Illyana looked over her shoulder, amused, ”You're bringing a gun?”

”Am I supposed to?” Jessica wondered.

The blonde chuckles, ”No, just kinda weird that you'd bring that to an alien colony that sits inside the head of a Celestial.”

”I still find it hard to believe we're going inside the head of a space god.” Jessica muttered, sliding the gun into her holster.

”Believe it.” Naruto said, flinching at the involuntary use of that phrase, ”We're here.”

The Kushina came to a stop as he exited the last Jump Point, the ship careening in open space. And there, perched before them, stood the floating mass of a decrepit skull.

As an orange hue filled the cockpit, Jessica voice broke out with a soft, ”Is it supposed to look like that?”

”No.” Naruto said, his mouth agape, ”No it isn't.”

Nowhere was by and large an anomaly. It had its own gravitational pull, oxygen, and other commodities necessary for sustainable life. The skull of the Celestial, a being once known as Eson the Searcher, was roughly twice the size of a Kree Battleship. Almost every facet of its cranium had been converted and harvested by the Tivan Group, the empty skull now acting as a hovel for lawlessness and debauchery. Gambling, murder, prostitution, slavery, human trafficking, and bounty hunting all ran through here, all by the guiding hand of the Tivans and their benefactor, The Collector.

All of that was now on fire.

Knowhere's once empty eye sockets were now filled with a rolling fire, its worn maw broken and melted away.

”Who could've done this?” Thor demanded, gripping Mjolnir tightly as they grew closer to the flaming Celestial skull.

”Knowhere is sandwiched right inbetween the Kree and Shi'ar borders. It could've been any one of them.” Naruto said grimly.

Illyana stared at the back of Naruto's head, ”But you don't think that's the case.”

”No.” He agreed, ”We'd have spotted a Kree Battleship by now if it was them, hell we'd have gotten a dispatch by now. And this isn't the Shi'ar Empire's way of doing things. Their Majestor isn't one to throw around bruit force, and I can't see them going after Knowhere and the Collector. The underworld might not be acceptable inside their borders, but it's still something they'd know to value.”

Thor rubbed at his beard, his eyes roaming the area in search for discernable ships of any nation, ”I don't see any war ships nearby, it's possible we just missed the attack.”

”Agreed.” Jessica added, ”More than likely the bulk of the attack is over. The question is if it's safe to investigate.”

”We don't really have a choice.” Illyana grunted, getting up from her seat as she said, ”We don't know for sure if the Collector is there, and if he is if he's dead or alive, or if he still has the stone in his possession. I don't think it's smart to leave any of that up in the air.”

”It's decided then.” Naruto pulled the throttle forward, the Kushina shooting off into the burning eye, ”This is a get in, get out. No dilly dallying. We get the stone if it's still there, if not we figure out who attacked and go from there.”

The three nodded, preparing themselves as they drew into the fires of Knowhere.

-x-

Stepping down from his ship, Naruto reached up and swung out Nakama, the vibranium blade singing as it cut into the hot air.

”We stick together.” Naruto ordered as they looked out over the destroyed layout of Knowhere's inner city, ”Thor, you're up front. Illyana, in the back. Jess, you're with me.”

All three nodded, though Jessica gave Naruto a side glance at being called 'Jess.'

In formation, the squad trekked forward. Thor, at the front of the diamond formation, held his trusty hammer at the ready. Illyana, having summoned a Tao Mandala in one hand, and an Eldritch Dao in another, followed at the back of the line. Next to Naruto, Jessica paced along carefully, her pistol raised at the ready.

Thor, who was in the lead, raised up his fist. Knowing to stop, the group waited apprehensively as foot steps rapped along the corner. Tumbling down onto the street in front of them, the Krylorian woman quickly tried to pick herself up, only to fall to her side in exhaustion. Her pink skin was covered in soot and purple burns, her face scrunched up in fear and pain as she tried to crawl away.

”Hey!” Naruto called out. As he took a step up, a figure fell down next to the Krylorian, their blade driving down into her abdomen.

As she screamed out in pain, Thor shot out to meet them.

Jessica, with only a moment of hesitation, swept her gun into the figure's direction and opened fire on his torso. She cursed as the bullets ricocheted of the figure's armor with a 'thwang.'

Thor, his hammer pulled back, roared as he released a mighty swing into the figure's torso. The sound of metal bending, bone breaking, and flesh tearing filled echoed as the figure was sent flying from the heavy blow.

Though Mjolnir was still at the ready, Thor didn't bother making sure it got up, knowing full well it was staying down. Giving her a glance, he sighed as he realized she was dead.

”What is that?” Illyana asked, half her attention on her surroundings the rest on the crumpled heap not ten yards away.

”A Centaurian.” Naruto answered, flipping the armored alien onto its back, ”They're like those old timey warriors I always forget the name of…kinda sounds like ramen or something.”

”Romans.” Jessica connected the dots, standing next to Naruto as she took in the first alien she'd ever seen.

It was heavily armored, its design looking to be a cross between a Roman foot soldier and a medieval knight. It's golden plating was painted purple thanks to the open chest cavity, the violet life juice seeping out of the gaping wound like a geyser. His skin tone was a very light blue, with a darker shade of war paint decorating the upper half of his face. His helmet had fallen off from the landing, the blue plum that sat upon the head soaking in the pool of blood.

The blade he'd used to kill the girl looked like a pata, the massive blade sticking out from the gauntlet's fist.

”The girl's a Krylorian.” Thor called out from the girl's side, taking in her elegantly white servant's dress, ”Sif told me the Collector had been keeping one or two as a slave.”

Jessica took that in with a hum, ”We're close then.”

Walking up to the group, Thor narrowed his eyes in thought, ”Centauri-Six is lightyears out of the way. What do they gain from sacking Knowhere?”

Naruto stood up, his face slowly losing color, ”Did you say Centauri-Six? Not Four, not Five. Six?”

Thor nodded, puzzled, ”Yes, six. The planet Centauri-Six-”

Before Thor could finish, Naruto roughly grabbed onto Jessica's arm, ”Go back to the ship, now. I'll send a clone with you and Illyana, but you need to get off this colony right fucking now.”

”What?” Illyana demanded. When Naruto didn't seem to notice, she began to say, ”What the hell happened to sticking together-”

”Now isn't the time for that.” He answered, deathly calm. Starring into her core, he said, ”This became way too dangerous. You guys aren't ready, if you don't leave you will die. Get it? All plans have been thrown out the window, and I need you to listen to me right now. Get to the ship, get out of here. Thor and I will be with you in a second.”

Illyana bit back the urge to argue. She knew that look on his face. Naruto was panicked. There wasn't any room in his head for argument.

Gripping Jessica's shoulder, the sorceress pulled her along, ”Come on, we're going.”

Jessica knew better than to argue against orders, but it didn't keep her from pulling away from the woman's grip. As Illyana summoned a portal, Jessica gave Naruto one last glance before being pulled in by the sorceress.

”So…this is it.” Kurama grunted somberly.

”Seems like it.” Naruto thought back.

Seeing a very confused Thor from his peripheral, Naruto said, ”Over two decades ago, Centauri-Six was the victim of a planet wide genocide. Half the population was wiped out. It didn't get a lot of publicity, mainly because of who was responsible. Five years later, the planet rescinded its sovereignty, broke off all ties to its managing empire, and pledged its loyalty to the very man who slaughtered three billion of its peoples.”

”Who?”

Naruto smiled warily, looking ahead undeterred, ”The Mad Titan himself.”

-x-

Jessica blinked as she and Illyana stepped through the portal, looking around the inside of the Kushina, ”I don't think I'll ever get used to that.”

”Sorry.” Illyana grunted distractedly, looking at the pilot's seat, ”You think you can lift us off?”

”I can lift us off, maybe.” Jessica muttered in thought, flashing back to which switches were flipped and how, ”Maybe.” She persisted as she sat in the co-pilot's chair.

”Maybe.” The sorceress repeated with a huff, pacing in place.

Ignoring her, Jessica did her best to follow what she'd seen Naruto do back at the homestead, ”What was going on back there anyway?”

”Naruto's spooked, that's all I need to know it's serious.” Illyana answered. As she said this, something caught her eye from outside the ship. Walking closer to the windshield, she squinted to look passed the billowing smoke surrounding the area around the ship.

She saw the shine of their armor first.

Emerging from the smoke, a platoon of Centurian soldiers converged around the ship, their rifles at the ready.

”Shit.” Illyana muttered, immediately aware of the danger they were in.

Looking up from the panel, Jessica blinked as she realized they were surrounded. Turning to an awestruck Illyana, the brunette got up from her seat to stand beside her, ”What do we do?”

Illyana blinked at the question, ”What?”

”Naruto says you're the second in command.” Jessica explained, her full attention on the sorceress, ”What's the call?”

Her eyes widened in shock, Illyana nodded. As she looked over the crowd of Centurians, she gave a confident nod, ”Let's see what you can do, spider woman.”

Jessica deflated, ”Please don't call me that.”

-x-

Thor led Naruto through the decimated city streets of Knowhere, the endless fire and smoke building in intensity the closer they got to the Collector's museum. Naruto was surprised at the lack of Centurians, coming across none as they trekked along the nearly deserted battlefield. What they did find was countless bodies lying in the purge's wake, their rotting bodies being eaten away by the flames surrounding them.

Finally, the two came upon the Collector's museum. The building was massive, around the size of a multiplex movie theater.

As Naruto rested his hand on the doorway, a thud echoed from behind them.

Naruto sighed. Turning around, he was met with a massive Centurian soldier. The beast of a man stood at a hefty eight feet tall, his broad shoulders making him seem like two men combined into one. Decorated with heavy armor that protected him from head to toe, this added weight had caused the concrete to crack upon his entry. In his hands, two massive broadswords, blood both fresh and old stained along its edges and broadside.

”I got this.” Thor assured.

With a heave, he chucked his trusty Mjolnir towards the beast's torso. To both men's surprise the Centurian deflected the hammer with a mighty clang, Mjolnir veering off course behind him.

Naruto eyed a mildly surprised Thor, ”You got this?”

Thor didn't bother responding, extending his hand expectantly. An awkward pause later, Mjolnir flew into the Asgardian's hand, its heavy metal singing loudly as it flew through the air. Thunder roared in the background, forcing Naruto to momentarily question where it came from. But he didn't get to ask, as lightning shot out from Mjolnir with crack.

Opening the door, Naruto muttered, ”He's got this.”

-x-

The Centurian soldiers gathered around the Kushina continued their slow encroachment towards the ship. The apparent head officer threw his fist up, the platoon coming to a halt.

Gesturing to the soldier to his right, he opened his hand and waved in the direction of the Kushina. The soldier didn't hesitate to march towards the ship his rifle pointed at the ready. Just a few yards from the bow of the ship, the bay doors opened, the stairs descending to the ground.

And with a clank for each step it hit, a metallic sphere rolled down in front of the lone soldier. As it came to a stop at his foot, a flashing red light came into view.

The soldier looked over to his superior officer-

BOOM!

And then all hell broke loose.

As the crack of the explosion sent the poor soldier flying, a portal opened up over the heads of three soldiers. As they looked up in confusion, that confusion turned to a surprised scream as a wall of water poured out from the portal, sweeping the men away as several tons of water fell on them head first.

A second portal opened, Illyana jumping out with her Tao Mandala and Eldritch Dao in hand. The three Centurian's in her way were unprepared for her sudden entry, and even less prepared for when she opened a portal next to her, and a portal next to center Centurian's torso.

With a jab, she flung her dao into the portal in front of her, the blade emerging from the second portal into the Centurian's chest. She flinched as blood spurted from the wound, but she was forced to move passed it as she opened a massive portal under the Centurians' feet, swallowing them whole before closing up.

She jumped as gunshots rang out from the Kushina's open bay, Jessica opening fire on nearby Centurians from the bottom of the stairway. Scowling as the bullets ricocheted off their armor, she tossed the gun to the side before charging in. As the towering soldier in front of her reared back his pata to cleave her head from her shoulders, Jessica slid between his legs feet first. As she swept up underneath him, she grabbed onto his ankle, yellow electricity rolling across the palm of her hand.

Just as she jumped up to her feet, the soldier fell to his knee, the leg she'd touched seemingly losing all feeling. Gripping the back of his helmet with both hands, another pulse of electricity erupted from her hands. With a jerk, the man went limp. Ducking she weaved herself along the jabbing arm of the next Centurian attacking her. With a subtle but sharp jab into the crux of his neck, the man's neck snapped back from the force.

Illyana, impressed, called out, ”I didn't know you had sparkly hands.”

”It's bio-electricity.” Jessica explained away before she jumped over a charging soldier, landing nimbly, ”I didn't know you could summon water like Uzumaki can.”

The blonde shrugged, ”I just opened a portal up at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, so not really what Naruto can do.”

”Still.” Jessica grunted as she blocked a crushing hammer fist with her forearms. Channeling her bio-electricity to her arms, the Centurian stumbled back from the sharp shock, ”It's impressive.”

”Thanks.” She returned distractedly as the last three Centurians opened fire on her. Expanding her Tao Mandala to act as a cover, she yelled, ”Little help?”

”Get me over there!” The brunette called.

Grinning, Illyana opened a portal up at the other woman's feet and another right above the Centurians' heads.

Jessica felt her stomach sweep up into her throat as the ground beneath her disappeared, finding herself right on top of the soldiers firing on the sorceress. Falling onto the center man's back, she shot a thick burst of bio-electricity into his torso. As the two fell to the ground, the other two Centurians realized Jessica had taken down their comrade.

As they spun onto her to unload their weapons, they jerked as another portal the size of a beachball sprung into existence right next second man's head. They barely had time to realize it was there before water shot out from portal like a fire hose, the pressurized blast of ocean water knocking both men off their feet.

When they didn't get up, Jessica's shoulder relaxed as she let out the breath she didn't know she'd been holding.

Silence hung over the two, their heavy breathing and the crackling fires around them distracting them from the .

”Hey, the boss just realized he forgot to send one – Holy shit, what happened here?”

The women jumped as a Naruto Shadow Clone popped up out of nowhere, taking in the battle ground around him with wonder. Jessica gave the clone a light glare, blowing the hair out of her face with a huff.

Blinking, the Shadow Clone tilted his head, ”What?”

-x-

Naruto couldn't help but take in the museum as he crept along the admittedly impressive building. The fire had yet to get into the building, leaving everything intact for the blonde to take in. The first section of the museum held all of the fauna the Collector had amassed for himself.

There were a few trees he recognized from Berhert, a crazy looking vine he knew was from Alfheim that seemed to have a mind of its own, even a giant redwood from Earth. The rest was entirely alien to him, the varying colors and shapes momentarily distracting him from the oppressive air circumventing along the building.

The next section ruined any awe he had for the Collector's trove. The menagerie of intergalactic species was sickeningly impressive, Naruto guessing that nearly a hundred different species sat within captivity. Each one was given their own glass cage, all of them splayed out lifelessly.

The glass that had once kept them in captivity were shattered, their bodies riddled with bullet holes.

A Dark Elf foot soldier, a Kosmosian bureaucrat, a Badoon Hunter, a Strontian Gladiator, a Kymellian slave, and a Kronan revolutionary were all easy recognizable, but Naruto was shameful to admit that he couldn't recognize most of the species held in captivity; the spectacle wearing blue skinned alien with a thick mustache and fairly receded hairline being the one that threw him for a loop the most.

”How much you wanna bet most of them were nearly extinct?” Kurama grunted with disgust.

”Think about that later.” Naruto answered aloud as he entered section containing the Collector's prized relics.

Unlike the previous sections that held their exhibits in one row after another, this room was circular, with each relic displayed along the wall like an art gallery. In the center, a beam of magnetic energy was projected from the ceiling, likely acting as the holding place for the Collector's most prized possession.

A possession that had been pried from his cold dead fingers.

Lying prone next to the center display, the Collector's cooling corpse stared up at him, the man's frozen face filled with pain and horror.

Standing over the body, his murderer, his back facing the blonde shinobi.

”I'd hoped you'd come, Maelstrom.”

Naruto slowly walked further into the gallery, his hands flexing tensely, ”Why's that?”

The Titan let out a chuckle, the baritone throttle giving the merry chortle a sinister edge, ”I wanted the pleasure of meeting the strongest man in the universe. It's an honor.”

The blonde frowned at the man across from him. He seemed to be distracted by what was in his hands, his face barely visible from his angle, ”I thought that kinda thing went to you.” He stated coolly, coming to a stop at just a few yards away.

”I'm not the one holding three Infinity Stones.” The man shot back, finally turning to face the blonde.

He was just as large as he remembered him, standing at just a few inches shorter than the Hulk. His body was covered in an elaborate golden armor, with black pieces highlighting the set beautifully. The beauty of the armor was ruined by the various shades of dried blood speckled along the worn suit. Sitting on his head was a form-fitting helmet, the protective shell only leaving his face open.

Resting in his right hand was a massive double-bladed sword that was as tall as Naruto was, monstrous weapon singing loudly with every movement, its razor-sharp edge cutting into the air.

Any other time, Naruto would've taken a second to take the impressive warrior in. But the red glare coming from his left hand took that attention away.

Covering his arm, a magnificent gauntlet. The golden plating shined an eerie orange from the bright red light that came from the gauntlet's knuckle. Sitting on the knuckle of the gauntlet's pointer finger, the Reality Stone hummed at attention.

”Where do you keep them, I wonder.” Thanos said thoughtfully, ”I don't think you'd keep them in your back pocket.”

Naruto forced himself to look away from the Reality Stone, looking Thanos in the eye as he responded, ”They're somewhere safe.”

Thanos nodded along, ”Oh I'm sure they are somewhere far away from here.” He shook his head as he began to walk around the blonde. Naruto followed suit, the two circling each other as the Titan continued,”Wasteful. To have that kind of power at your disposal, and to squander it the way you do. Imagine what you could do with them, the things you never thought possible or imaginable at your fingertips.”