by Jimmy O'Brian

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The Guardians were sent to the planet K'Rann to retrieve Mjolnir, Thor's hammer, and return it to Doctor Doom in five days…or else he'll hurt Aleta, whom he's holding hostage! Unknown to the Guardians, two "scavengers" already discovered Mjolnir and took it to King Harrid, ruler of K'Rann, who was just informed that a ship from Earth was approaching K'Rann…..

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"Aw…..God!" Vance exclaims as another asteroid clips the side of the Guardians' ship.

"Just keep calm, everyone…damage report, Nikki?" Charlie-27 asks his currenty co-pilot.

"Not too bad, so far, considering how many times we've been hit…" the fire-haired Mercurian native responds.

"How many times are we going to hit the damned pieces of rock?" Martinex, his crystalline form still unsteady from the multiple collisions, complains.

"Well…uh….."

"Don't answer too soon, Chuck…seems like we're getting to the end of the asteroid belt…but we're about to be hit by something else!" Nikki warns the team as quickly as possible, and their leader Charlie orders them to prepare.

"Alright, everyone! We know what this probably is…the Kranians know we're here. We're going to try to get this done as easily possible, so only Nikki and I will be at the guns…..everyone else, prepare for some rough….."

The imminent hit occurs, and the Guardians of the Galaxy are all thrown from their places as the ship recoils.

"Nikki! Check the radar…" Charlie asks, buckling himself in tighter.

"Already on it, boss. There is a group of five ships approaching…standard one-person fighters….."

"Doesn't sound like much."

"I wasn't done. There's another small fleet behind them…..at least fifty ships, some of them small fighters, some of them bigger defense convoys…last time I checked, we have one."

"Don't get smart right now, Nikki…we don't need it."

" Over fifty ships for just us?" Hollywood inquires what the others are thinking.

"Seems a little over-prepared, if you ask me." Charlie agrees.

The ship is hit again, less directly, but still its foes are out of the line of sight.

"Nik, we need to get through this as quickly and painlessly as possible. Is there any way around?"

"Not at all, the spread's too wide. We'll reach them, or vice versa, before we can turn enough."

"Dammit…..Yondu, can you take the seat for a second?" Charlie holds his head and stands up from the pilot's chair.

"Certainly, Charlie." Yondu replies, and takes his friend's place there.

Messaging his own temples with one hand and steadying himself against a wall with the other, Charlie thinks deep and hard about what's happening…..

Another blast strikes the ship.

"Boss man? We kind of need your leadership skills, here." Nikki calls to him.

"Just…..just give me a second, Nikki."

After another moment, Charlie raises his head and walks over to Hollywood.

"Simon…..you can breathe in space, right?" he asks his team mate.

"Well…..not really. I don't have to breath, actually." The once Wonder Man answers.

"Even better. Simon, get into the transport area and get ready for some fun…the rest of you, strap down and keep calm. This is going to work…it has to."

Simon thinks for only a bit and then realizes he's their only chance.

"You got it, Charlie." He says, and quickly moves to the air lock. The mechanical door slides up and lets him in, closing behind him.

"Do you think he'll be okay out there?" Martinex asks, concerned.

"He doesn't get tired, he doesn't have to breathe, and he can punch through steel…sounds better than this ship itself."

"They better both hold up good, because here come our friends!" Nikki says, and everyone prepares.

On the "horizon", which was really just the amount of empty space between the Guardians' ship and the planet of K'Rann, a vast amount of ships appears. First, the five smaller crafts, but soon all of them. Things to not look good.

"Simon, go ahead and get out there." Charlie says calmly through the intercom.

"I'm on it…" Hollywood answers, static surrounding his voice, and the second door opens. All of the oxygen collected in the area is sucked out, and Simon allows himself to be, too.

The other Guardians in the ship see him fly in front of them as they slow done.

Simon flies through a ship, punching through at top speed.

"There goes one." Nikki alerts the team.

Another ship falls from suspension in space. Hollywood bursts out the other side of the broken craft.

"Come on, Williams…" Charlie whispers under his breath, nervous to the point of sweating.

He needn't be. The Man of Wonder is a freight train of a man…a being of ionic energy. He goes where he likes. In the wake of Hollywood, only dozen or so ships are left. They stop coming any closer to the Guardians' ship.

"Yeah! Way to go, Simon!" Vance yells at the top of his lungs.

"The man's amazing…" Martinex admits aloud.

"Hold, Guardians. There is an incoming message…and it's from one of the Kranian ships." Yondu informs the others, and they quiet down. Yondu presses the button to accept the message coming through.

"Halt your vicious attacks, Earth men." A stiff but proper voice comes through, surprisingly speaking English.

"Why should we?" Vance says before anyone can respond. "They're the ones who attacked us."

"Vance? Could you just shut your trap for a second?" Charlie asks, and answers the Kranian message. "We'll gladly stop, Kranian, but how can we be sure you won't attack us any further?"

"Thou hast my word." The voice says.

"And who's word would that be?"

"Fair enough, Greestill. Are we clear to come down?"

"Invaders…..?" Charlie wonders.

"Nikki…Yondu…take us down. We've got business to tend to." He orders, and they obey.

"Aye-aye, cap'n." Nikki jokes and the Guardians' ship begins its descent into the Kranian atmosphere.

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*"Your highness!" the guard says, running into King Harrid's court room.

"What is it? Has the invading ship been destroyed?" the king demands to know.

"No, your majesty…we…..we lost."

"What??"

"I am sorry, my liege. The Earth men have already landed on K'Rann and are coming directly here."

"How can this be? We sent so many ships…how could one measly ship get through?"

"It was…amazing. They had a man of unprecedented power among them."

"One man?"

"A group calling themselves the Guardians of the Galaxy were onboard, and one of their men single-handedly destroyed a vast number of our ships."

"The Guardians…"

(*Translated from Kranian. -Jimmy-)

"Alright, here we are." Charlie says to the rest of his team as they enter the King's court unattended.

"What a strange looking planet…..the architecture…" Yondu starts to say, but the King cuts him off abruptly.

"…..the Guardians of the Galaxy!" Harrid exclaims in his native language.

"What did he say?" Nikki wonders, since none of them speak Kranian.

"Your majesty," the guard says in English, "Yon Guardians doth not speak thy native tongue…perhaps thou should tend to them in the Language of Asgard, and Midgard, alike?"

"Thanks to thee, guard, for pointing such a problem out. Thou may take leave…it seems that the Guardians and I shalt have matters to speak of…do we not, Guardians?"

"Uhh…yeah, I think so." Charlie replies, thrown off by their sudden switch between a completely foreign language to what sounds like Olde English.

The guard leaves, and the King adjusts himself in his throne to begin speaking.

"So, Doom decided, alas, to make the final attack upon fair K'Rann…" King Harrid says sadly.

"Huh?" Vance grunts, and realizes that there is a misunderstanding. "An attack on K'Rann? Your men were the ones that attacked us!"

"He's right, King Harrid…we were attacked by a huge fleet, and we were just one ship!" says Charlie-27.

"Yet, thou managed to defeat the entire army, with one man, no less."

"Thanks to Simon here, that's true. But you didn't know he was on board…why did you send so many ships against just us?" Charlie leads the conversation.

"Dost thou truly have to ask? Doom has tried to conquer this planet more times than can be counted!"

"Conquer…? Doom told us he that you and your men attacked a political transport of his for no reason, and that there had been problems ever since…"

"Ha!" the King laughs heartily, "Doom speaks little besides lies! My men did destroy a ship of his, but the ship was a grand construct…a battleship sent to conquer or destroy this planet!"

"I knew it!" Vance says loudly, with both victory and anger in his voice. "I told you guys…Doom can't be trusted!"

"Stop boasting, Vance…we already knew that. He's holding Aleta hostage for God's sakes!" Charlie hushes his team mate. Vance notices, and he holds back the rage, bottling it once again.

Vance halts his thoughts to concentrate on the conversation going on.

"So you assaulted us because you thought we were coming to attack K'Rann?" Charlie inquires.

"Precisely, my Guardian guest."

"…does that mean everything else he told us is a lie?" Martinex wonders aloud.

"What would that be, man of crystal?" the King overhers Marty's query.

"Doom sent us to this star system searching for a specific artifact…a certain hammer…" Hollywood starts explaining, but the King interrupts, once again.

"Wouldst thou mean…the hammer of mighty Thor…Mjolnir?" he asks, hoping inwardly that his prized newfound prize is not what they have come for.

"Exactly!" Charlie says. "Do you know anything about it?"

"Know about it? My friend, I have the Uru mallet itself beside me!"

King Harrid reaches into the pouch attached to his throne, and pulls out none other than Thor's Uru hammer, his famed weapon, the mystical Mjolnir!

Old and battered, still the weapon is an amazing sight to behold.

"That's it…" Charlie says.

"It's been so long since I've seen it…" Hollywood says under his breath, and Vance thinks the same thing.

"Weird looking hammer, if you ask me…" Nikki's voice is the loudest and least respectful.

"What in the Hell…?" Charlie is startled, as are the others, and they all naturally jump out of harm's way as most of the roof comes down inside of King Harrid's regal court room.

"By the Rainbow Bridge itself…!" the King yells, still holding the hammer in his aged hand. It is lifted easily and with force from his grip…

"I shall take that toy from you, little man."

The giant, yellow and green gloved hand lifts the hammer, dwarfed in comparison, back to its body, which is visible through the massive hole were the ceiling used to exist…..

"Loki!" Vance yells, fearing the worst from the god of fire and mischief. Hollywood notices another figure, though…still towering in stature, but more shapely and feminine…

"…..Sif….?"

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Let us now turn our attention to a strange and horrible scene, taking place at the same time as the planet of K'Rann receives its unexpected visitors.

The door slowly opens and the silver-plated form of doom enters, without his cape or hood. As Aleta looks on from her place, strapped to the large bed and unable to move, she sees that Doom carries a bottle of wine in his hand.

"Are you trying to charm me, Doom?" she asks defiantly as the monarch sits down at the edge of the bed, near to her. He looks over her, her appearance even more lucious than usual, out of her usual costume and in a sleek sleeping gown of soft, emerald silk. He gives her no answer as he pours a single glass of the drink, over a hundred years old now, and lifts the cup to hole in his faceplate.

"I asked you a question, you crazed monarch…you won't have me. I'm not easily won over by simple acts of goodness, especially out of all the horrible acts you've committed." Her words are harsh and biting, but Doom still pays them no heed.

Standing suddenly and startling the woman, Doom faces away from her and puts down his wine glass, leaving it half empty. Still looking away, his steel gloved hands reach for his face, and Aleta hears the air being released from underneath the mask and the metal clasps striking the mask itself as the whole plate it loosened…and then removed.

Aleta gasps with horror before Doom has even turned around…she has heard the legends. Doctor Doom was supposed to have a disgustingly disfigured face, which he keeps hidden underneath the impenetrable armor. She begins to look the other direction as he turns to face her, but she can't help but stare…

"Oh my…!" she can't help but say aloud, and Doom begins stripping down his armor piece by piece, revealing his amazingly toned body to his captive. She cannot help but catch glimpses every now and then. She should be worried…but she is caught up in the moment. Surely he wouldn't force himself upon me, she thinks.

As Doom sits in the bed again, his body covered only by a small pair of black trunks, he runs his rough hand gently over Aleta's soft cheek. She turns slightly, avoiding his eyes, but he turns her face back. Looking into her, or through her, his burning green eyes catch her attention. She feels threatened…she feels scared…but she is not angry, and she does not know why.

As Doom's body lay itself down over Aleta's own, she cries out against him, "No…stop!" But even she does not know how much she means it.

Doom forces his tongue into her mouth. Doom forces her to comply. He takes advantage of his hostage…he is not a gently lover. He is powerful and commanding. He is the dominant force. Doom takes advantage of Aleta…

…and she's cries, wondering why she is enjoying it so much.

"Doom? Are you there?" Talon's voice comes through the intercom, and Rancor is woken up from her deep slumber. Groggily, she presses the button to accept, and Talon's feline face appears on the screen.

"Oh…Rancor. It's you." He says uneasily.

"…*yawn*…Yeah…whattaya want?"

"Um…I was wondering if I could talk to Doom."

"Sorry, furball, the boss is kinda busy right now. What did ya need?"

"Well…he was supposed to send me to a planet where I could find a cure for my son*…but the ship he sent me on seems to be getting lost, and I don't know how to use it…" Talon's voice is weaker than usual. He feels nervous speaking to Rancor…she does not notice.

"I can't help ya out, really…I dunno how to use that ship, or how to get to the planet Doom was tryin' to send ya to. I'll tell him that you need help though."

Talon sits and thinks for a moment, awkwardly.

"Oh…alright, thanks, Rancor. I guess I'll just keep trying to figure out where I'm going…"

"Sounds like a plan."

Another silence, and Talon speaks again.

"….uh…Rancor?"

"What is it, Talon?" She sounds hostile and distant.

"…..nothing. Thanks again." Talon's face disappears from the screen.

On one side of the universe, Talon holds his son close, and wonders if the child will ever have a mother…

Back on Earth, Rancor tries to get back to sleep. While on her way there, she thinks…

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In the field surrounding the castle of King Harrid, the Guardians of the Galaxy are already locked in battle with the two Asgardian gods, Loki and Sif…..and they are losing.

Charlie's guns and strength serve a purpose, but not a very good one against the sheer power and magic of the two giants. Like Charlie's firearms, Yondu's specialty arrows were just children's toys to Loki and Sif. Both gods hardly feel Marty's cold blasts and Nikki's flames, and even Vance's telekinesis and Hollywood's amazing strength seem worthless against the huge immortals.

Hollywood doesn't finish the thought as Sif's gigantic sword strikes the ground beside him, knocking both Simon and those around him to their backs.

As Charlie barks orders to his team, and they try to pull together to work as a single entity, a voice in the shadows of the castle speaks quietly.

"It would appear that the time has come to prove mind own mettle in battle!"

And quickly, a cloaked figure flies to the battle scene, prepared for an assault on the Asgardian gods.

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