Just as Ronan ignited the power of the Infinity Stone and readied an attack on Peter and Star-Lord, a cascade of emerald beams rained down from the sky and collided in an instant with the stone's unleashed radiance.
The sudden turn stunned Ronan. He immediately raised his hammer and fired into the heavens.
Peter had never seen a Jetray before, but he recognized the newcomer as Bante at a single glance. The Omnitrix symbol embedded in the Jetray's chest was far too conspicuous.
"You keep a flying fish as a pet?"
Star-Lord turned to Peter. Seeing Peter call out to Bante, he assumed the creature was some alien flying fish Peter had raised.
Peter shot him a look and said irritably, "You'd better pray Bante didn't hear that."
Venom, however, was thinking something entirely different. Star-Lord was way too annoying. Venom did not like him, but since he was bonded to Peter, even when Peter got angry, he'd never actually do much to the guy—maybe toss a little dust in his eyes at most. Bante, though, was another matter. If that pudgy punk provoked Bante, Bante would beat him so hard he'd shit himself—and if he didn't, it'd only be because the punk had already cleaned out his pipes beforehand.
So Venom narrowed his eyes, a sly, nasty grin spreading across his face, and said to Star-Lord, "Don't listen to him. He's just stingy. We've got loads of that kind of fish. If you like, you can ask a guy named Bante for one later—free of charge."
"For real?" Star-Lord's interest was piqued.
"Of course, we're comrades now. Can't be tight-fisted," Venom said, brimming with false sincerity.
"Alright, we're pulling back!" Peter had just received Felicia's retreat signal and immediately decided to withdraw.
As for Ronan, now that Bante was here, he wasn't Peter's concern. Peter had always had absolute confidence in his cousin.
"But the Orb…" Star-Lord still couldn't let go of his four billion.
Peter smacked him upside the head. "You think this is a fight we can still stick our noses into?"
At that, Star-Lord hesitated and looked toward the distant battle between Bante and Ronan. The shockwaves from their fight kept expanding; the terrifying energy missed Bante but shot into the sky and crashed into the sea, blasting pillars of water dozens of meters high that then fell back as torrential rain. The lasers Bante fired sliced across the ocean's surface like blades. Every beam carried horrific power. As that rain of light swept over Star-Lord's head, the searing heat nearly curled his hair.
Venom wasn't exactly comfortable in this environment, which made him even more irritable. He threatened, "Come with us, or stay here and wait to die! Or better yet, just let me eat your brain!"
Seeing this, Star-Lord finally sobered up a little. He swallowed and muttered in a faint, dazed voice, "Yeah… let's retreat."
Forget the Orb. Forget the four billion. None of it was worth more than his own hide.
Hearing this, Peter breathed a sigh of relief. He couldn't bring himself to kill Star-Lord, but if he left the guy here and he got caught in the crossfire, that wasn't Peter's problem. His only worry was Star-Lord pulling the same stunt as before and dragging Bante down by butting in.
So he and Venom boarded Star-Lord's ship. Peter's own mini-sub had long since been buried in the deep sea.
Of all this, Bante knew nothing. His entire focus was fixed on Ronan. Which Infinity Stone was the most dangerous was a matter of debate, but one thing was certain: the Power Stone was absolutely the mightiest, so mighty it was named after strength itself. The stone's power varied with its wielder—the stronger the user, the more they could push it to its limits. And its current holder, Ronan, was a formidable warrior. Right now, Ronan might genuinely possess the power to rival Thanos. Against such an enemy, even Bante dared not let his guard down.
He constantly evaded Ronan's energy blasts while firing green lasers from his eyes in retaliation. The crimson figure streaked through the sky like lightning. It was a fierce aerial duel; the barrage was so dense it seemed inescapable, yet Bante still dodged it all. Alone in the dim sky, the Jetray became a one-man army.
"Ronan, hand over the Power Stone!" Bante warned as he attacked, dodging and striking back relentlessly. His optic blasts were relentless!
Right now, Bante was like a high-mobility fighter jet armed with laser weapons. His eyes and tail could both fire lasers, and a Jetray's speed and reflexes were enough to evade every attack Ronan launched. Ronan might think he could afford countless mistakes while Bante could only slip up once. But for Bante, a slip-up? Impossible! To him, Ronan's energy blasts moved as slow as snails. It would be downright bizarre for a normal person to get hit by a snail.
That said, Bante wasn't exactly gaining much advantage either. His attacks barely had any effect on Ronan. The Power Stone's energy had fortified Ronan's body, making him nearly invulnerable—ordinary attacks could scarcely hurt him. The Jetray's speed was immense, but its offensive power was somewhat lacking. Bante's current strength could halt a fighter jet in a steep crash, the Jetray's energy field ensuring the jet wouldn't be torn apart. Honestly, that was already beyond most heroes. But to Ronan, wielding the Power Stone, it meant nothing. In pure numbers, even Four Arms and Humungousaur were nothing before the Power Stone, and not even Way Big could compare.
Seeing Bante's attacks were useless, Ronan let out a smug, cold laugh. "You think you can take the Infinity Stone from me?!" He then poured even greater power into the stone.
"No matter what you are, if you dare challenge me, death is your only fate!" The Power Stone on his Cosmi-Rod blazed even brighter. From its very core, enormous energy spilled outward, spreading like a web of glowing cracks. "Aaagh!" The fearsome energy even tore a cry of pain from Ronan. Even with the Cosmi-Rod as a conduit, the stone's power still fed back into him. That creeping web of energy was proof enough. But Ronan could endure this small agony! His body might be nowhere near as durable as Thanos's, but he could bear the stone's energy for a short while. And that short while was more than enough to annihilate any foe! Just like—right now! "Aaaaaagh!!" Ronan screamed in anguish once more, and in that moment, he poured the rage and strength born of his pain onto the enemy before him!
In the next instant, Ronan attacked Bante again! Only this time, he wasn't simply releasing energy. The Power Stone granted him command over all cosmic forces—gravity, repulsion, electromagnetism; with a mere thought, Ronan could control them all! Now, he swung his warhammer back behind him, left hand forming a claw, and reached toward Bante in the sky. "Come here!" A gravitational pull like a black hole erupted from his palm, locking onto Bante as if it had eyes. "Gravity?" Bante felt as if countless hands were dragging every single cell of his body, pulling him toward Ronan.
He fought with everything he had. In theory, a Jetray at maximum speed could even surpass light, but that required the medium-free void of space. Morag's gravity and atmosphere were close to Earth's; he couldn't achieve that here. And even if he could, he mustn't—the two opposing forces would tear his body apart. The terrifying gravity was already warping the space around Ronan; strange black lines appeared in the air. Raging seawater surged skyward, forming towering waterspouts dozens of meters high that whirled around him.
"You cannot escape my grasp! Bow before the power of the Infinity Stone!" Ronan roared. Bante felt as if he were sinking into an immense quagmire, unable to break free, drawn bit by bit toward Ronan. This isn't working, Bante thought. The Jetray's strength could never oppose the Infinity Stone. With that, he gave up resisting and let his body tumble toward Ronan's hand like a kite with its string cut.
Whoosh! In a flash, Ronan raised his arm and seized Bante by the throat, hoisting him high. "You've lost!" he declared with swaggering arrogance.
In the past, Ronan would never have wasted so many words on a beaten enemy, but now, the stone's immense power had amplified his vanity and pride. With such overwhelming might, what was left to fear? The restoration of the Kree's glory was at hand!
Yet, on Bante's face, Ronan saw not a trace of fear or panic. "Lost?" The red, flying-fish-like creature's face twisted into a mocking expression. "I haven't admitted defeat yet, Ronan."
Then, the Omnitrix core on Bante's chest flared with light. In the next heartbeat, Ronan felt the thing in his grip abruptly become empty, vanishing like an illusion. And right after, a biting, bone-deep cold.
When he looked again, the Bante before him had changed into a completely different form. Cloaked in dark blue-black robes, Bante stood upon the sea. In that moment, the raging waterspouts froze solid, becoming twisted, icy spiral towers. He looked like a frigid, spectral sorcerer. "Big Chill!" The Omnitrix had long since unlocked voice mode, but Bante still preferred to slap the dial to transform—simply because it felt cooler.
He had chosen Big Chill because of the species' unique ability to phase their bodies, rendering them unaffected by most matter. Gravity meant nothing to him. As for slugging it out head-on with a Power Stone-wielding Ronan—Bante wasn't that stupid.
Ronan felt like he'd seen a ghost. He clearly remembered grabbing that red monster, yet in the blink of an eye, it had not only changed shape but also slipped straight through his fingers. The gravitational pull that could tear asteroids apart had no effect on Bante at all. That split second of shock threw Ronan off rhythm, and Bante seized the opening.
The freezing air inside Big Chill burst forth instantly. Bante exhaled a stream of icy mist, blasting it at Ronan's arm. In a heartbeat, the hand holding the Cosmi-Rod was encased in a thick layer of solid ice. The searing cold burned Ronan's arm. Bante did not stop; the frigid current crept up Ronan's arm, and in the space of a breath, Ronan was completely entombed in ice. "Hoo—"
It all happened in mere moments. Wielding the stone made Ronan powerful, but the gem was still an external object. Especially since Ronan still needed the Cosmi-Rod as a medium to harness the stone's power—his strength came with an obvious weakness. Bante didn't need to defeat him; he just needed to snatch the stone from his grasp. So, after freezing Ronan, Bante did not hesitate to reach for the Power Stone on the Cosmi-Rod. Truth be told, Bante wasn't sure if Big Chill's body could withstand the stone's backlash, but he could no longer afford to care. Everyone knew how Big Chill's ice worked—against a truly powerful foe, that solid ice would shatter at the slightest touch and couldn't hold Ronan for long. He had no confidence in pulling the whole Cosmi-Rod away, so he decided to just pry the stone out directly.
Why did Tony fail in Infinity War? Because they targeted the wrong thing—they went for Thanos's gauntlet. A whole group of them struggled, restraining Thanos's movements, messing with his mind, pulling and tugging for ages, and still couldn't yank that gauntlet off. Instead, Star-Lord's punch basically knocked them straight into Endgame. By Endgame, Tony had figured it out: the gauntlet was hard to snatch from Thanos's hand, but weren't those individual gems just sitting there, ripe for the taking?
Crack! The ice encasing Ronan began to fracture. Bante continued his reach for the stone. But just as his fingers were about to touch it, he stopped.
Taking the Power Stone directly would be easy, but now Bante had another idea. Given Ronan's pride, after obtaining the Power Stone, he would never submit to Thanos. His next target was obviously Xandar. And the Nova Corps on Xandar had no ability to stop him. This was a prime opportunity for the Plumbers to expand their influence. If everything went smoothly, the Plumbers could bring Xandar and the Nova Corps under their banner!
/-\
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