Control through Compassion - MCU/Lantern Corps

[Jeff Roy]

Umm...
Is the Seeding still capable of sending Telepathic signals to Ego?
If so, if it ever does, Ego is gonna get a full blast of PURE GREED.
Just saying.
Might be a bad thing...

 

[JeckJack]

That typo threw me off. Got a few paragraphs down then had to go back and re-read.

Click to shrink...

Thanks for catching that!

Edit:

Umm...
Is the Seeding still capable of sending Telepathic signals to Ego?
If so, if it ever does, Ego is gonna get a full blast of PURE GREED.
Just saying.
Might be a bad thing...

Click to shrink...

The ring confirmed that while it was capable of receiving signals from Ego, it wasn't able to send signals, and wasn't connected to him yet. Ego doesn't know what happened yet.

 

[Grimmouse197]

it should be able to hold the Tesseract and objects as powerful as it without burning u

Click to shrink...

Are you sure that is a good idea??

 

[Whenever Possible]

Umm...
Is the Seeding still capable of sending Telepathic signals to Ego?
If so, if it ever does, Ego is gonna get a full blast of PURE GREED.
Just saying.
Might be a bad thing...

Click to shrink...

The seedling is telepathic one way only. It can receive instructions from ego, but not send anything back on its own.

The chapter says "<Plant has a one-way telepathic sensory organ. It is able to respond to certain telepathic signals from Ego, and receive life energy, but is not capable of sending them out"

 

[abercrombie fizzwidget]

She needs to forge a Yellow/Fear Ring in order to preserve herself against the effects of that Indigo/Orange enlightened self-interest feedback effect. Other colors would also be valuable but I feel like Yellows natural tendancy to be empowered by large crowds of people would be conductive to the forging of a proper Ring, especially if what they feared was a Ring of even a different type, while also being highly conductive to mental stability, or at least functionality, when blended with other mentally modifying effects.

A good runner up would probably be Blue/Hope as the releaf of having something able to fend off/ballence the effects of the more scary Indigo and/or Orange Rings was literally forged in front of, and from, them. Hope would probably be somewhat conductive to helping to let go of Fear once it was used to let go of Greed and Compassion.

I think that the only ones left would be Rage, Love, and Will. I can see her wanting to let go of any mental modifications so that she can come back, as herself, to someone else. Rage and Will might end up making some sort of feedback loop of wanting to come back to herself as herself. Rage turned inward at its own effect upon people turning into Will to be ones self and reinforcement of ones self naturally leading to Rage at the idea of losing ones self or, rather, having ones self stolen by a mental effect.

Edit: there's a really good Fairy Tail quote about fear showing you your weakness so that you might grow strong. I personally can't think of a better way of being strong then to take up the sort of tool that is the Orange or Indigo Lights and to then grow beyond them once they'd served their purpose.

 

[Edifier]

The significant change to the users mind so doing portal math becomes natural. I wonder about that.
How significant are we talking about and in what ways? Would it simply improve the mind and make it elevate to Brainiacs or Thanoses level?
Tho humans like Tony and the other super scientists could figure it out too.
I wonder.

 

[Antares1883]

Two things, first of all the teleportation to Egos planet, is that even possible with Indigo rings? The ring isn't native to the MCU and Atika has never been to Egos planet ye she was able to easily teleport there.

Second of all her creating a lantern ring of another colour made me realise that if eventually masters or gets a good understanding of each ring then she might be able to put them all on at once and become a White Lantern.

 

[Diraniola]

Second of all her creating a lantern ring of another colour made me realise that if eventually masters or gets a good understanding of each ring then she might be able to put them all on at once and become a White Lantern.

Click to shrink...

One of the core functions of Orange light is to turn creatures into construct lanterns, which can then take the form of a working orange ring. We can't take this basic function as evidence that Atika will be able to make other colored rings.

 

[JeckJack]

Two things, first of all the teleportation to Egos planet, is that even possible with Indigo rings? The ring isn't native to the MCU and Atika has never been to Egos planet ye she was able to easily teleport there.

Second of all her creating a lantern ring of another colour made me realise that if eventually masters or gets a good understanding of each ring then she might be able to put them all on at once and become a White Lantern.

Click to shrink...

While I'm not sure it would work in the normal DC universe, in the MCU space-stone based teleportation seems emotion based. You want to go somewhere, it brings you there.

When Thor and Loki used it to travel back to Asgard, they didn't input any coordinates into it or anything, they just pictured Asgard, and went. Same for whenever Thanos used it to make portals. Sure, it was always to locations that he knew existed, and thus could conceivably know the coordinates for, but he didn't have to input anything. He just thought of the place, stepped through the portal, and was there.

The ring is enabling teleportation by studying the energy produced by the Space Stone, and replicating the process.

Thus- Atika wants to go to Ego, she goes to Ego. The only part that the staff can't replicate is actually opening portals the same way the Space Stone does.

 

[JeckJack]

"That's all? But- but I can still keep going!"

"You've done a lot today Samir." I say, "But if you go too long without food and water, you'll start getting sloppy. If you make a mistake while healing someone or fixing something, it could be dangerous for your patient."

"The ring tells me I can go for days without food or sleep!"

"With constant charge?" I ask, crossing my arms.

"But-"

"You've done so much. We went to five hospitals today! Now please, give me back the ring." I hold out my hand expectantly.

He looks conflicted, and I worry that he's one I'll have to go chasing after. It doesn't happen often- I think people knowing what to expect from the news, or whatever, helps them deal with the fact that I take the ring back afterwards.

But it still happens sometimes.

"NO!" he punches out, and the energy blast lashes out towards me.

I form a shield, and the energy explodes against it harmlessly. Well, if we're being stubborn... "Seedling."

My newest construct-lantern floats forwards menacingly, and then two of its long tentacle-like roots whip towards Samir and wrap around him. He's dragged through the air towards me, and Seedling manipulates his hand out towards me.

"Let me go! I still want to help people!" he protests.

"And you can keep helping them even without the ring." I say, drawing close.

I create a construct of a needle-thin cylinder, and slide into the space his balled-up fist is leaving. Then, I have it expand. Unable to keep a fist around the larger and larger cylinder, his hand splays out.

"Ring, remove secondary designation." I say, touching it.

<Designation removed.>

I pull it free from him, and all at once it's like he went limp. I slip it into my pocket.

"There, there, you're alright." I say as Seedling slowly unwraps itself from him, lowering the man gently down to the ground, "Would you like me to bring you to someone?"

"I... I'm sorry. I shouldn't have tried to steal it."

"It's fine. You just wanted to help. Nothing wrong with that. Now, would you like me to bring you home?"

"...Yeah."

"Where is that?"

He tells me, and so we keep flying over the city.

---

Once I leave him in the hands of his grateful boyfriend, I begin flying off again. My good deed for the day done, it's time to test some theories.

While opening a wormhole with just the staff seems to be out of the question for the moment, it's not the only way to get around in the MCU. The best option is probably magic... but even if what indigo-me thought about the situation is true, that I was just being cowardly in not going to Kamar-taj... I'm still not willing to go to the magicians just yet.

I will soon, though. But there's a few other things I might as well try first, if only because they're avenues I can try on my own. And going to the wizards is almost literally throwing myself on the mercy of other people.

I look to my Construct-Lanterns. "Seedling, Raticate, ring-form please." Both of them comply, and Zola reaches out to absorb them both with a robotic arm construct.

I reach into my pocket, and , "Set a deactivation timer for... three minutes. Reactivate three minutes after that."

<External stimulus needed for reactivation.>

"Would contact with the staff work?"

<Yes.>

"Then set a timer for one minute, and deactivate once it goes off. Reactivate again when you come into contact with the staff."

<Parameters accepted. Activating timer. Fifty-nine seconds remain.>

Deep breath in, long breath out.

I slip it on, and focus on where I want to go, and who I want to go to...

A man who was extremely likely to know all about what I want to do, all about every kind of ship or method of teleportation in the universe. A man who probably had any number of things on hand that could help me, and planet Earth, and maybe even everyone in the universe immensely.

A man who was an arrogant slave-keeping bastard.

...I want to go to Taneleer Tivan, the Collector.

The ring projects energy out into the air in front of me that takes the form of a raging wormhole. I step through, and on the other end I'm in an utterly massive chamber, looking down at a man with frosted white hair. "Collector." I greet. I don't look behind me as Zola floats in as well, taking position at my side. The wormhole closes after him.

"...Hello." he greets back, "I do not believe you've scheduled a meeting with me." he says while looking me up and down, before finding his eyes drawn to the staff, "But I can forgive that when you've brought me something... so interesting."

Immediately, the gem flares intensely with orange light. In fact, I don't think I've ever seen it glow that bright.

But my attention is pulled away by all the suffering that surrounds me. People in cages, as far as the eye can see. There must be thousands of prisoners here, locked in their tiny cells, for who knows how long. Does he preserve their bodies after they die? Does he allow them to die at all?

It's horrifying. I need to act, I need to break them out, I need to heal them-

<Shutting down.>

-I breathe out, my mind feeling normal again. My feelings haven't changed, this is still horrifying. But my feelings aren't in charge right now. I am.

"I see you've noticed the gem." I say, forcing a smile.

"It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen." he says, he moves closer reaching out with one hand to touch it, but I float back a pace, "...if I may?" he asks, holding out his hand.

"I'm sorry, but this one I'm holding right now isn't for sale."

"Everything has a price, my dear. And why would you come to me if not to sell? Fifty million units." he says, smiling, "A fair price for such a perfectly cut gemstone of... such beauty."

"No, I should be more clear." I turn to the side, looking at Zola, "Show the Collector the Seedling Ring, please." Silently, I add a mental command: And give it some juice. As much energy as you can spare.

"Of course, Madam."

A panel opens in his side, and the ring is produced. A robotic arm holds it out, and Tivan's eyes go wide as he stares at it. And... seeing an orange ring fully charged like this, shining like a star, holding all the avarice energy I had all my creations pour into the Seedling to usurp it... it really is beautiful.

"This one is for sale." I lie. It's mine, I'm just pretending to sell it to lower his guard, "It's the same type of gemstone, but cut into a ring."

He reaches out for it, before pulling back his hands close to his chest, "Exquisite! Thirty million units."

"Sixty." I say, just to be contrary.

"Done, CARINA!" he suddenly shouts, "Bring this woman her units!"

"Of course, Master."

I turn towards the new voice, and... I'm caught off guard as I see her.

Carina shouting she will be a 'slave no more', followed by her screams of agony as she tries to hold onto the Power Stone- it's probably the most disturbing scene in the whole MCU. At least to me. I try to skip the scene, whenever I re-watch Guardians of the Galaxy.

It was disturbing enough when she was a fictional character. But the woman in front of me is... really here. Really suffering. Really living in fear of being added to the Collection day in and day out. God. Is that other woman here? His last slave? Is she still being tortured?

"Zola, give him the ring."

"Yes, Madam." he extends the robot arm, and Tivan snatches it from the claw, and immediately puts it on.

His eyes blaze orange, and an aura covers his whole body. Various symbols on his clothes flare bright orange as well, taking on the symbol of the Orange Corps. He rises into the air, and begins to cackle. Then, he abruptly stops, and turns towards me, "I'll be taking that other gemstone of yours too, now. Afterwards, you will tell me all about them! I want to know every detail you know about what they are, and what they can do."

"Here's the main thing they do: Seedling, Usurp him." I order.

"Huh?" he stares down at his hand, and at the ring on his finger. A ring which has very abruptly stopped being a ring, and has very suddenly started being a plant larger than he is, with roots long enough to twist around him a hundred times each.

He vanishes inside the mass of tentacles.

I float over to Carina, who flinches back from me, "You're safe now." I say, "I'm so sorry for everything that's happened. I promise, he won't ever hurt you again."

"You- you need to leave." she hisses, "You need to go back through your portal and leave. The Master- he's immortal. This isn't the first time he's been assassinated. He's hundreds of thousands of years old. It won't do anything. Security will come soon, with necroblasters, you have to go now!"

I feel the connection form, and I look up and watch as Seedling pulls away from the Collector. My Collector.

"If you have security coming, Tivan, you should tell them to ignore it." I say.

He looks down at himself, confused, "I thought I was immune to most magic-based transformations. And any form of mind control. I am an Elder of the Universe, you know."

"You're not immune to greed. And now you're made of it." I say, floating up to him, "So. Security?"

"Ah. Right, of course." He waves at a camera, "I'm fine! Do not come in here. This lovely woman is not to be harmed. I rather like this."

"Good." I look around at the... massive room. "Alright. Priorities. Are you torturing anyone?"

"Yes."

"Stop. Deactivate whatever you have hurting anyone, right now."

"As you wish, my mistress."

"I prefer madam."

He smiled, bowing low, "A thousand apologies, my Madam" then he looked to Carina, "Bring me the-"

"Do it yourself." I growl.

"Yes, Madam."

Carina looked over at me uncertainly, and I sigh.

"Are you going to make the rest of us like that, too?" she asks quietly as we watch the Collector zip away at high speed.

"No.... Maybe the animals. I don't think it's worth it to try and track down every world they came from. I will go that far for the people, though. Anyone who wants to go home, I'll try to help."

She stares at me for a few seconds, before beginning to tear up. She suddenly falls towards me, and I catch her. "Thank you." she says, "Thank you."

---

"Get him! Get him! Hahahaha!"

On the battlefield in the center of the room, filled with death traps and surrounded by betters, several rat-like creatures, orloni, fled before a larger carnivorous F'saki.

Suddenly, several glowing orange tendrils lashed out, grabbing each of them and pulling them across the room, into a doorway that all the people present recognized as the one used by those seeing Tivan personally.

The room went quiet.

Then a woman with a staff floated out, followed by a massive, orange, tentacled beast. From the grips of the tendrils, it dropped the orloni and the F'saki, but rather than falling to the floor, all six creatures floated in place, drifting slightly in the artificial breeze.

"Ghosts." whispered a man fearfully, staring at them.

"Who here has a ship able to take passengers?" the woman demanded of the crowd.

They remained quiet.

"Nobody?" she asked, frowning. She floated back inside then, leaving the tentacled monster where it was, guarding the door, watching the room filled with mercenaries and merchants with its eyeless gaze. Its victims floating around it quietly.

Then, she returned, Tivan's personal slave following closely behind her, "The Tivan group is offering ten-thousand units to anyone with a ship willing to transport people to their homes on different planets. Thirty thousand if they're willing to carry multiple people and make multiple trips." the terrifying woman continued.

Tivan's slave revealed the bag she used to deliver units on behalf of Tivan, demonstrating it for everyone present.

"I can take anyone wherever they need to go!"
"I'll go as far as Xandar!"
"If they're not Kree, I'll go anywhere."
"My ship can hold four hundred people!"

The terrifying woman smiled, "Thank you! Oh, and word of warning; if any of your passengers do not safely reach their destination, I will find out, and we'll have a chat afterwards about why that happened. Understand?"

Most of the people in the room flinched back as the orange tentacled creature gave a deep, rumbling sound, the F'saki and orloni ghosts getting pulled towards it and vanishing into light, leaving no remains.

They understood.

 

[hzuilquigmnzhah]

yeah i second that the scene with the slave girl always made me sorta uncomfortable its good to see someone right that wrong

 

[Breadnaught]

While opening a wormhole with just the staff seems to be out of the question for the moment, it's not the only way to get around in the MCU. The best option is probably magic... but even if what indigo-me thought about the situation is true, that I was just being cowardly in not going to Kamar-taj... I'm still not willing to go to the magicians just yet.

I will soon, though. But there's a few other things I might as well try first, if only because they're avenues I can try on my own. And going to the wizards is almost literally throwing myself on the mercy of other people.

Click to shrink...

"Hmm, I could go to the benevolent order of Sorcerer-monks and ask them for some pointers ... or I could eat the soul of a god, enslaving an Elder of the Universe to my will!"

Well, he was enough of a dick that he probably deserved it, and he'll definitely have the knowledge and experience to be useful for your plans, but it really doesn't seem like the less-risky option.

 

[JeckJack]

"Hmm, I could go to the benevolent order of Sorcerer-monks and ask them for some pointers ... or I could eat the soul of a god, enslaving an Elder of the Universe to my will!"

Well, he was enough of a dick that he probably deserved it, and he'll definitely have the knowledge and experience to be useful for your plans, but it really doesn't seem like the less-risky option.

Click to shrink...

Despite the fancy title, the Elders don't seem to have many powers in the MCU besides a little bit of illusion stuff, and the fact that they're very durable and don't age.

Not even little g-god.

As for the wizards, she's more worried because one of the basic weaknesses of Power Rings is 'magic', and is thus afraid that if it did come to a fight, or she had to run away, they could just turn off all her powers and prevent that, and because she's significantly changing the timeline, one of the things that the Masters of the Mystic Arts really does care about.

Also, Space-stuff and magic-stuff both have a lot of baggage and other stuff that could help, with the difference that the magic stuff would take a long time to learn, and she'd be a subordinate, where with the space stuff, it's easier to immediately use, and she's in control. She will go to the Masters eventually.

 

[DadofBoy]

After Atika finishes basically fixing the mcu, will she go onto the dc universe? or the dceu? or maybe the marvel comics...basically what im asking is what will u do after endgame.

(A question all marvel fans asked before far from home )

 

[PrinceJonathan]

and because she's significantly changing the timeline, one of the things that the Masters of the Mystic Arts really does care about.

Click to shrink...

If they're aware of any changes to the timeline, they should also be aware if those changes are positive or not. Also I thought their rules only concerned changing the past?

 

[JeckJack]

After Atika finishes basically fixing the mcu, will she go onto the dc universe? or the dceu? or maybe the marvel comics...basically what im asking is what will u do after endgame.

(A question all marvel fans asked before far from home )

Click to shrink...

I don't really have any specific plans for something like that. Maybe fix the grim-dark DC animated cinematic universe that ended on a really boring sad note recently? But I don't have anything specific in mind.

If they're aware of any changes to the timeline, they should also be aware if those changes are positive or not. Also I thought their rules only concerned changing the past?

Click to shrink...

She doesn't know what their rules are, or whether changes she think are positive are what they think are positive, so she's erring on the side of caution.

 

[PrinceJonathan]

Maybe fix the grim-dark DC animated cinematic universe that ended on a really boring sad note recently?

Click to shrink...

Oh yeah that was...yeesh. I watched Apokalypse War and was shocked by how gorey it was. I wasn't expecting that from a DC animated movie.

Spoiler

THEY BISECTED STARFIRE!!!!! WHAT THE #@$!

The romance between Damian and Raven was cute. Then they decide to end it by having Flash hit the reset button with another Flashpoint event. I get why they did it, everything was fucked and pretty much everyone is dead, but it still felt hollow to me. Like all of their struggles through out all of the previous movies meant nothing in the end.

I'd like to see a fixfic though with Trigon as the MC who remembers the previous timeline and actually tries to be a good dad for a change.

 

[JeckJack]

Oh yeah that was...yeesh. I watched Apokalypse War and was shocked by how gorey it was. I wasn't expecting that from a DC animated movie.

Spoiler

THEY BISECTED STARFIRE!!!!! WHAT THE #@$!

The romance between Damian and Raven was cute. Then they decide to end it by having Flash hit the reset button with another Flashpoint event. I get why they did it, everything was fucked and pretty much everyone is dead, but it still felt hollow to me. Like all of their struggles through out all of the previous movies meant nothing in the end.

I'd like to see a fixfic though with Trigon as the MC who remembers the previous timeline and actually tries to be a good dad for a change.

Click to shrink...

Id read it.

 

[PrinceJonathan]

Id read it.

Click to shrink...

Can you just imagine the reactions? Apparently Trigon's always screaming curses at his daughter 24/7, but suddenly it's all quiet inside the gem. Then out of no where he starts giving dating advice through their connection. "You should totally go out with Damien, he's such a nice boy."

 

[SystemSearcher]

Can you just imagine the reactions? Apparently Trigon's always screaming curses at his daughter 24/7, but suddenly it's all quiet inside the gem. Then out of no where he starts giving dating advice through their connection. "You should totally go out with Damien, he's such a nice boy."

Click to shrink...

Y'know, I wonder if the key to rapidly improving their relationship with Raven is to actually tell her that Trigon's mind has been completely overwritten by the SI.

 

[PrinceJonathan]

Who said anything about an SI? I wanted a Trigon who honestly wants to be a better dad, but doesn't really know how.

"What does a God of Evil get their daughter for her birthday? A plague of locusts maybe? Zombie apocalypse? Hmm...this is hard."

"If you want to date that mortal boy, I promise I won't eat his soul."

Although if you went with the SI route, I'd never reveal Trigon has been replaced. More fun to keep everyone guessing.

Imagine some crazy cult setting him free thinking he'll reward them and help them destroy the world or something, but instead he smites them all and returns to the gemstone peacefully. Maybe with the condition he gets some kind of TV or Internet access cause it's really boring in there?

"Look we can fight and potentially cause millions in property damage, or you can just give me Netflix and I'll go quietly."

 

[JeckJack]

I watch as people shuffle out on their way to their new lives. To their freedom. A lot of them have been here for... years. Centuries, even. Turns out mister Tivan did know how to extend the lives of mortals, for the sake of his displays.

I healed as many wounds as I could, physical and mental.

Quite a lot of them would be able to just go to their home planet, and reintegrate into their lives. The Tivan group is one of the richest and largest organizations in the galaxy, and it could afford to open an account for each and every one of them. Anywhere with virtual access to units, they would be well cared for for the rest of their lives. For those who were heading places without virtual access, we just left them with half a million units each, and some anti-pickpocketing devices.

As pilots were assigned and logged- when I made my threat, I meant it -the numbers of former-prisoners inside the museum dwindled down.

"Lady Atika?" Carina asked, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"Yes, Carina?" I turn around, "I thought you were going to leave?" I ask, gesturing at the line of former prisoners heading on their way out.

"I have nowhere to go, my Lady." she said, bowing slightly, "The colony I was from was attacked by the Kree. Almost everyone was killed. The survivors were sold."

"Then... is there anywhere you want to go?" I ask.

"If you would have me, I would like to stay with you." she said, "The Museum- it's all I have, as horrible as it is. You will need someone to continue to administer to it."

"You don't hate this place?"

She smiles sadly, "I don't have anything else. And I would like to do something for you, in return for what you have done."

"You don't have to."

"...Every time I made a mistake, he would point towards Matani. And warn me of what would happen if I did not do better." she said. "Every time. Your very first order for him was to make him stop torturing her. I owe you a debt, Lady Atika."

"Then... it doesn't have to be something to do with the Museum." I say, "You can help me in some way that doesn't mean you have to stay here."

"Thank you." she says,

I...

Is... is the staff glowing violet?

That...

She is a very pretty alien girl in a very short skirt... One who was constantly abused by someone in a position of power over her until a few hours ago. Going to... to give her a little bit of time being safe before making any kind of investigation about that.

"So..." I begin, "...I'm going to ask Tivan some questions about things, but if you want to help me... could you ask around and try to find everyone else who doesn't want to leave, for whatever reason? Have them gather somewhere with some room. I'll talk to them about what they want to do in a little bit."

"Of course!" she... clasps her hands together and hurries off.

"Thank you!"

Right.

I give the mental order for Tivan to hurry over to me, and he flies over. "So, how are things going with the Tivan group?"

"I have assured all of my stakeholders that despite my mental domination, that I am just as intelligent as before, and remain in possession of all of my memories. I have made them aware that I will be making a number of changes in policy, but mostly I think they were all quite happy that I will no longer be so concerned with maintaining my Museums."

"Really?"

"Even considering the costs of sending my exhibits home, the Tivan group will be saving more due to no longer requiring the upkeep for sustaining an ever-increasing number of people and creatures indefinitely. Several of them are also glad that we are discontinuing our 'slave trade'. It means that the Nova Corps will be willing to interact with us publicly again. They're very anti-slavery, you know."

"...Museums plural?" I demand.

"Of course! I have existed for hundreds of millennia. I have spent a tiny fraction of my time in Knowhere. I have well over a thousand such museums across the galaxy."

"Are you torturing anyone at any of them?"

"No. You told me to stop, remember?"

"...Good." I say, "Shit. Alright, what we did here- I want you to start releasing people at the other Museums too, and paying for their safe journeys home."

"I anticipated that you would desire that, and have already started making preparations. No need to buy mercenary pilots as you did so dramatically, though. The Tivan group does have our own ships." he says with another extremely over-exaggerated bow.

I sigh, "Okay. That's good. Thanks for... doing that."

"I live to obey."

I feel a little guilty, before pushing it aside. What I'm doing isn't worse than what he was doing, and he's been doing for millennia. "I'm interested in methods of teleportation." I tell him, "I am capable of flying in space unassisted, and I want ways to do that accurately."

"Ah! Of course. Right this way." he begins to float upwards and to the right, and I follow him through the air.

Eventually, he stops at another of the containers suspended above a walkway, "Here we are, a Shi'ar original. They left the galaxy so long ago it's hard to find any relics of theirs in good condition."

It's... a big metal frame in the shape of a trapezoid. "Is this a teleportation machine?"

"Of course. In fact, it's a Stargate. What the Shi'ar used before they established the jump points across most of the galaxy. While I appreciate the new hexagonal design to the jump point, the old look was just much more them, you know? They had to make everything come to a blunted point. Advanced, but not aggressive. Except when they were aggressive. Then they preferred to make things look like a sharpened jutting pipe."

"..." I look to the staff, and then back at it, "I was mostly looking for something... smaller, wearable."

"I understand, but if we're going to be talking teleportation, we should do it starting from the beginning." he gestures again at the Stargate, "These were the first manufactured teleportation devices, from which all others in widescale use today are descended."

"I... actually really would like the tour, now that I think about it." I say, "Alien stuff is fascinating. But I'm going to be busy today. I was mostly thinking along the lines of magic teleportation, or something hand-held that can kick-start the wormhole making process?"

"Ah." he smiles, then, "Like how you entered the museum?"

"But without the... side effects."

"Well, traditional teleportation magic is famous for side-effects. Referred to in many circles as 'Dark magic' as it was first designed by the Svartalf- in fact, I do not believe mine has left, we could ask him, -It was not so detrimental as to never be used, but detrimental enough to be used rarely. Although it's more geared towards exploiting the connections between the nine realms. If you want to go to a world that isn't connected to the realm network, it's even harsher on the body."

"What about just... thinking of a place and being able to go there?"

"I do have such convenient artifacts, but most require an existing understanding of magic to use. One cannot simply pick up one of the six wands of Watoomb and expect to use it instantly." he says, "Especially when you only have five of them... regardless, I'm not sure if they'll be of use to you. The next best option is an infinity stone." he blinks, smiling, "And you even know where it is. Why haven't you simply taken it?"

"I might eventually." I admit, "But I don't want to start a fight with the people who have it. They're good people."


"What method of teleportation did you use earlier? What are the side effects you wish to dispel? I may not have something better, but I have the universe's greatest collection of medicinal materials and knowledge as well. I may be able to help you deal with existing side effects."

"...Putting on the ring forces you to become compassionate." I say, "To an extreme degree. To the point where I make dumb decisions while wearing it."

"Hm. I do have an old Asgardian artifact, the Bloodaxe. Not only can it instantly open a portal to anywhere you have visited before, it also forces you into a feral rage." he said, grinning, "Hard to be overly compassionate when all you can feel is hate. Of course, it is made of Uru, so a mortal holding it could have... stability problems."

"What part of 'I don't want to turn off my rationality' did you not understand?"

"My apologies, Madam." he gives another sarcastic bow- and I would like for him to stop doing that. At once, he stands up straight, looking chastened. "I have the most complete database of the Universal Neural Teleportation Network. I also have a variation of the jump point opening device designed to be carried on one's person. The intended purpose was so that one could make an emergency jump if you were trapped with nothing but a space suit. It's common for the more advanced Kree suits. I also possess the Cosmic Viewer, a magical device which I can use to locate objects or people of interest to me, even offering coordinates."

That... would work. It's not as instant as the ring or magic or the Tesseract would be, but it's a lot safer, is the main thing.

"Of course, the viewer is somewhat stationary."

"No, that's fine." I say, smiling, "Thank you. Show me where it is."

"Now... the Cosmic Viewer does have its limits. It cannot be used to locate the Infinity Stones, for example. It was constructed long ago with the aid of the Space Stone, and cannot be turned against its siblings. Powerful magicians that know of the Viewer's existence will set up defenses against being observed by it. The ability to view anything in the nine realms has been severed as well. Most likely by the Vanir." he explains as we start flying in another direction.

"Are the nine realms in the jump point database?"

"Yes, of course."

"Then that's fine."

We stop by a large steel vault. Tivan floats down to it, and presses his hand into the sensor. The shutters open, and reveal a... big crystal ball. Not really sure what I was expecting.

"Think of what you seek, and place your hand upon it." he says, before gesturing at the machines built into the walls, "While the Viewer will merely give you a vision of what you seek, I have had centuries to perfect a method of analyzing from where in the universe it pulls the vision from to give approximate coordinates."

Okay... show me... Nova Prime.

I reach out, and place my free hand against it. The surface of the crystal is warm, and suddenly I'm given a view of a few inches away from her face. She's speaking with a few other people. When I turn around, I can see the room she's in. And then, when I pull my hand away from the warmth, the vision fades. "What was the location?"

"Xandar." he said, looking up from a monitor on the wall, "In the capital of the Nova Corps."

"Okay, that works then." I press my hand against it. Show me... Venus.

All at once, I'm staring down at a light cream-colored planet from space.

Show me its surface.

Now, I'm standing in a huge desert. The sky is filled with clouds that are a thick, kind of sickly yellow. I can't feel the wind, but I can see the way loose pebbles are sent rolling past along the dirt, the way wind has carved and is still carving at the ground.

Show me the surface of Mars.

The sky is completely clear, a pitch black filled with stars, and it could practically just be another desert on Earth besides that. Show me the side facing the sun.

There's the red rock I love! Could be Arizona, if Arizona had no plants anywhere in sight.

I pull away again, and look to the Collector. "Well?"

"You viewed the second and fourth planets around Midgard's sun."

"That's right but... Midgard?"

"Terra, then."

"It's planet Earth." I correct.

"Really?" he frowns, "The universal translator the galactic community uses- huh, you don't have one implanted, we'll have to fix that, -always calls it 'Terra'. Your species call it by the least pretty synonym for ground?"

"I didn't pick the name."

"I take it you are satisfied with the Cosmic Viewer?"

"For now. Yeah. Anywhere in space I need to be... this can get me there." I look at him, "Once you bring me the handheld jump point opener."

---

The opener ended up being something like a thick wristband with a holographic hard-light display. Tivan uploaded his database of the Neural Universal Teleportation Network into it, and I had Zola integrate it into my suit, setting it up on my left arm, so that I can use my free right hand to manipulate it.

Of course, everything was written in alien.

"So, do you have any universal translators?"

"I do." he said, "For the benefit of my former exhibits, so they could understand me when I spoke to them."

Right.

"Ah... Lady Atika?" I turn, looking over at Carina, who was on a walkway beneath us, waving up at us, "I've gathered everyone who doesn't wish to go home, or who wished to speak with you first."

"Oh! Thank you!" I float down to her, before stopping and looking back up at my two construct-lanterns, "Tivan, go get me a translator. And see if one works on Zola, too. Actually, while you two are working together, why don't you see if you can get Zola access to whatever database you have of this place. And to the space-internet."

"Yes, Madam."

"As you wish."

I watch as they float off, before landing in front of Carina, and holding out my hand, "Where do you have them gathering?"

"In the hospitality hall outside the museum. The inside doesn't have many wide open spaces."

"Then let's go see them."

 

[Antares1883]

SPACE LESBO HAREM TIME

Also, wondering if we'll meet any interesting characters from the list of people who don't want to leave.

 

[Grigori]

She is a very pretty alien girl in a very short skirt... One who was constantly abused by someone in a position of power over her until a few hours ago. Going to... to give her a little bit of time being safe before making any kind of investigation about that.

Click to shrink...

Fun story but especially appreciate this. Happy to see a pet peeve of mine acknowledged, they're usually immediately rushed into being waifus or ditched after they show their appreciation.

 

[Azaira]

I would like to point out that 'Earth' has no official name. It gets called many things - (spelling may differ) 'Gaia', Terra', 'Erde' - no clue for 'eastern' names - etc. Terra is the latin name, which was relevant to the extra(terre)strial species that visits every so often, and one more likely to be recognized by more countries than 'Earth' is.
Basically, her fighting the name is just her opinion based on a small portion of the people that live there.
(And this is irrelevant to the story)

 

[SystemSearcher]

I would like to point out that 'Earth' has no official name. It gets called many things - (spelling may differ) 'Gaia', Terra', 'Erde' - no clue for 'eastern' names - etc. Terra is the latin name, which was relevant to the extra(terre)strial species that visits every so often, and one more likely to be recognized by more countries than 'Earth' is.
Basically, her fighting the name is just her opinion based on a small portion of the people that live there.
(And this is irrelevant to the story)

Click to shrink...

There's also about an equal amount of languages where Earth's name is "world" instead of "dirt'. Japanese's "Sekai" for example. At least I'm pretty sure it is that.

 

[GraphiteCrow]

I would like to point out that 'Earth' has no official name. It gets called many things - (spelling may differ) 'Gaia', Terra', 'Erde' - no clue for 'eastern' names - etc. Terra is the latin name, which was relevant to the extra(terre)strial species that visits every so often, and one more likely to be recognized by more countries than 'Earth' is.
Basically, her fighting the name is just her opinion based on a small portion of the people that live there.
(And this is irrelevant to the story)

Click to shrink...

There's also about an equal amount of languages where Earth's name is "world" instead of "dirt'. Japanese's "Sekai" for example. At least I'm pretty sure it is that.

Click to shrink...

This could be explained away as Atika's ignorance showing, the people who she surrounds herself with originally called it earth so 'obviously' the planet is called earth

 

[Jaina Chaosweaver of Fate]

What I'm doing isn't worse than what he was doing

Click to shrink...

This... This is a very, very slippery slope she is on right now. To rationalize this away with compassion... I will love to see whether this changes or stays.

 

[Seishenoru]

There's also about an equal amount of languages where Earth's name is "world" instead of "dirt'. Japanese's "Sekai" for example. At least I'm pretty sure it is that.

Click to shrink...

Just as a point of reference, I haven't regularly spoken Japanese since I was a child, but "Sekai" means "world" and "Chikyuu" means "Earth". Sekai can and often is used in place of Chikyuu, but Chikyuu is specific to our planet.

 

[abercrombie fizzwidget]

There's also about an equal amount of languages where Earth's name is "world" instead of "dirt'. Japanese's "Sekai" for example. At least I'm pretty sure it is that.

Click to shrink...

Sort of like how a lot of rivers are just called "River" in the language most local to it?