Kitty peered into the darkness of Peter's room. According to the red glow of the clock embedded in his wall, it was 9:00 am. As good a time as any, she thought. Rolling over, she kissed his shoulder and nudged him awake.
"Wazzat? Kitty?" He rubbed his bleary eyes.
"Hey, Peter, I think I've got this time-in-space thing figured out."
He propped himself up on his elbow and smiled sleepily at her. "Is that so?"
She nodded. "Do you know what day it is?"
Peter squinted an eye, "ummm, Saturday?"
Kitty looked just the tiniest bit disappointed. "Well, yes, but also, it's Val-" Kitty was cut off by a screeching alarm that went off within the ship.
Lydia, the ships on-board personality, popped up, look more irritated than concerned. "We've got an emergency beacon coming in from the Guardians. Some shit's going down. Setting a route now. Up and at 'em sleepy heads." The ship roared to life, jostling Peter out of the bed and onto the floor.
Both went into action mode, pulling on their clothes, Peter grabbing his helmet and gun, Lockheed nonchalantly stretching from the nest he made on top of Peter's clean clothes. Kitty frowned slightly as she got dressed, she didn't get to tell Peter that it was Valentine's Day. But the mission probably wouldn't take too long. Kitty tucked her present to Peter into her belt, just in case.
The ship arrived in the orbit of the planet K'ai and docked onto the Guardian's vessel. Kitty and Peter made their way to the meeting room, where Gamora, Drax, Rocket,Groot, Carol, and Flash were assembled.
Peter fiddled with his element gun. "What's up with the alert?"
Carol pulled up a screen, images of a collection of items appearing. She pointed to one, a gem, and then spoke, "we've been getting some Intel that there are some cosmically powerful items within this system. It looks like there are five items that we need to find and keep away from the likes of your dad," she shot a pointed look at Peter, "and others like him that may misuse these powers. Unfortunately, some of these are in...less than friendly places..."
Gamora frowned silently for a moment. "We've located the items, it's just a matter of obtaining them."
"The first one is here, at K'ai. Just..." Carol looked down, "we need to be careful. This is one of the planets Hulk was...sent to when he had his whole...space adventure." She grimaced.
"Hulk is a mighty opponent, but he no longer resides here." Drax pointed out.
"It's called the Gem of Jarella, and it's in this tower here." A map appeared, and Carol pointed to a medieval looking spire attached to some ruins. "Kitty, you're probably best suited to this. You and Peter should deploy without the rest of us, so as to not draw attention. But be weary, I don't think they'll be super fond of Earthlings."
"Terrans," Rocket corrected her.
"Whatever." Carol rolled her eyes.
Peter and Kitty had Lydia pilot the ship down in stealth mode to the ruins of what used to be a grand castle. "I'll be right here when you're ready," Lydia said.
Peter and Kitty exited the ship and took hands, Kitty phasing them down into the rubble covered ground and then up into the tower that remained intact. As they walked silently, Kitty took the opportunity to speak.
"Peter about earlier-" but she was cut off as Peter held a single finger up. He pointed to a pair of guards that flanked the door. They took hands again and bypassed the guards silently.
Past the guards was a room full of rich treasures, gold, crowns, and jewels.
"Do you see what we're looking for?" Peter whispered.
Kitty eye the items in the room and shook her head. "Maybe higher? Carol was pointing to the top of the tower?" Peter nodded and took her hand, and they floated up. Each room was the same, filled with items that glimmered lushly with magic, but nothing was what they were looking for. Soon, they reached the tip of the tower.
A small flag wavered in the gentle air at the peak of the tower. Something gleamed at the base of the pole. Kitty pointed to it, "is that...?"
Peter leaned over and picked it up, "well, I'll be darned!" He held a small gem dangling from a golden chain. The jewel reflected a rainbow of colors as it shifted in the breeze, it looked a lot like an opal from Earth, and shown shimmering in the sunlight, but it otherwise looked, honestly, mundane. "This is definitely it!"
Kitty raised an eyebrow, but before she could say anything, they heard shouting from below. Guards had gathered and were yelling at them. Kitty couldn't parse what they were saying, but before she could even try, Peter had grabbed her and jumped off the tower, activating his jet boots and flying them back to the ship.
Back on the Guardians' ship, Carol debriefed them on the next item while Rocket drove.
"The planet is call Ceres. It's mostly just ruins now, but a special blossom grows there. We need to collect them."
"How many are there?" Kitty asked.
"I am Groot?"
"About a dozen. And no, Groot, they aren't sentient in the way you are."
"I am Groot." The tree's bark cracked into a smile.
"We're here." Rocket announced.
Rocket, Groot, Drax, and Kitty were sent down to collect the flowers. Nobody seemed too worried about getting caught, so they began to look.
There was little evidence of any life beyond the lush greens that seemed to grown over everything. They had landed in a field speckled white with blossoms that reminded Kitty of baby's breath and Queen Anne's lace. In a spot where the vines were sparser, Kitty noted that the plants seemed to be growing out of bricks and overtaking shapes that might have once been buildings. She poked the rich earth with the toe of her boot, thinking that Ceres was beautifully uninhabited. Her thoughts were interrupted.
"I am Groot!" Groot announced, proudly pointing. Kitty and Rocket came to his side. There was a patch of about six red, rose-like flowers.
"Yeah, I guess those are it." Rocket said, eyeing the flowers.
As Rocket and Groot began to pick the flowers, Kitty turned to Drax, who was searching for the rest of the dozen flowers. "Is this a normal day for you guys? Running around, stealing things, picking flowers."
"The flowers are a new development," Drax commented, mostly ignoring Kitty.
"And this doesn't seem...too easy...?" But as Kitty spoke, three humanoid figures in full armor appeared. All three were holding swords. Big swords. As they began to charge, Drax pointed to a second patch of flowers and began picking them.
"Groot, Rocket," Kitty shouted. "Incoming!" She ran to Drax and began to push him away from the conspicuous flowers.
"Hold, tiny Terran, I am almost done." He plucked the last flower, lifted Kitty effortlessly up to sit on his shoulder, and ran.
They made it back to the ship, with some trouble. One of the armored swordsmen had pursued them to the docking point, but had seemingly disappeared as soon as they entered the ship.
"Okay..." Rocket panted, "we got 'em...a dozen...flarkin' flowers."
"Magic flowers," Carol pointed out with a raised eyebrow.
"They don't seem so magic..." Kitty squinted, but Carol had already taken the flowers to a back room of the ship as it took off.
Gamora frowned at the map, "the next location is Tartoonla."
"I am Groot?"
Peter walked in, wiping his hands, "yeah, that's where she was raised. Best if she stay on the ship."
"What's there?" Kitty asked.
"Warrior's Shoes."
"Shoes?" Kitty's eyebrows came together in bafflement. "Seriously?"
Carol nodded, but before she could say anymore, Rocket announced, "we've arrived."
Carol and Kitty were the only two who weren't technically wanted criminals in space, so they took Lydia down to the Tartoonla bazaar.
"Carol?"
"Yeah, Kitty?"
"Doesn't this whole thing seem...totally bizarre to you?"
Carol shrugged, "I dunno, two weeks ago, they went to a planet of Venoms, so bizarre is kinda the moniker of the Guardians."
"But...shoes?"
"Shoes can be a very powerful thing." Carol snorted to herself.
Kitty squinted, "I guess so..."
The two women made their way through the crowded market place, being jostled by busy shoppers and shouted at in different languages by vendors whose booths were unpopulated. Different fabrics and fruits were thrust in their faces, the smell of spices overwhelming their noses. They turned in circles a few times before they came to a quiet section of the bazaar.
A towering, gray Breakworldian that struck Kitty as almost familiar stood sullenly at an almost wareless booth. In fact, the only thing sitting on the wooden table was a perfectly ordinary pair of high heels. They were nice high heels, silver with metal wings springing from the side of the heels, but completely mundane looking otherwise.
Carol checked something on her wrist. "That's them. Act like you're not interested."
Kitty nodded, but this seemed too simple and obvious. Carol approached the merchant and attempted to haggle with him, but he turned away from her, raising his head up. "I wait only for a warrior worthy."
Carol looked a little insulted. "Excuse you, but I can't imagine there is a warrior more worthy than I." The man eyed her skeptically and pick at one of his nose holes shrugging.
This put Carol over the edge. Her fists lit up and her helmet armored itself over her head. "Do you know who I am?"
The man shrugged, unintimidated by Carol's show. Carol hovered into the air. "Kitty, grab the shoes."
Kitty shot forward and picked them up gently before Carol grabbed the collar of her costume and shot into the air.
"I'm Captain Marvel, and don't you forget it!" Carol shot a firework-like blast into the air before speeding off to the ship, Kitty dangling haphazardly at her side. Kitty saw the merchant shrug and pack up his booth as he faded into the horizon.
On the ship, Carol explained her logic. "It was a test."
"A test?" Kitty sounded unconvinced.
"Warrior tests are almost ritual on Tartoonla." Gamora explained.
"He just wanted proof that we were ferocious enough to earn the Warrior's Shoes." Carol nodded, grinning.
Peter smiled at Kitty, "are we having fun yet?"
Kitty rolled her eyes a little, but pulled him aside. "Peter, look, I don't know how long this whole thing is going to take...I just wanted to..." she reached behind her to give him her gift, but she was interrupted by Flash.
"Kitty, Lockheed's one of the Flock, right?"
"I, um...I don't know?" She looked over to Lockheed, who was napping in Groot's branches. One of his eyes slitted open and he cooed in the affirmative. "I guess so?"
"Good. Excellent."
Even though giving her gift to Peter was pressing, Kitty had to bite. "Why?"
"The next planet we're going to is Kakaranthara."
Carol pulled up a map. "Kakaranthara, birth place of Fin Fang Foom."
"Are you serious?" Kitty asked in shock.
"We need to get his baby teeth." Flash snorted slightly.
Kitty looked aghast. "You've gotta be kidding me!"
"No joke." Carol held one hand up, the other on her heart. "Scout's honor."
Flash nodded. "You, me, and Lockheed will go in. Obviously, Lockheed will fit in the best, but my refreshed symbiote suit can stealth us, and you can, you know, get into the hard to reach places."
Kitty sighed. Maybe she didn't want to be such a bad girl anymore.
Kakaranthara was beautiful. The entire city was made up of circular buildings with roofs that curve softly outward and rounded metal walkways connecting each building. Everything gave off a soft sparkle, in warm hues of red, orange, and gold.
The inhabitants ranged in size, some looking like medieval dragons, others like Chinese dragons or sea serpents. The one thing that united them was that they were all wearing pants. Kitty saw Lockheed felt a little out of place. She wished she had made him a tiny pair of pants; had she know about this adventure, she would have.
None of the other dragons seemed to notice Lockheed's faux pas, so the trio made their way through the rounded road ways. Everything seemed to be made out of light, aluminum-like metal, but the walls and walkways were strong, strong enough to withstand dozens of 32 foot tall dragons lumbering on them.
Lockheed sniffed the air and cooed, pointing. His small claw pointed to the back of a mauve dragon about his size.
Kitty gave him a look. "Don't make this a repeat of the Snowball incident," she warned him.
He rolled his eyes and shook his head, pointing to the dragon's neon orange pants. He cooed again. Hanging from the pants were a pair of tiny fangs.
"Those are it!" Flash nodded in approval and high-fived Lockheed. "Phase me so I can get those fangs?" Kitty held Flash's shoulder while he reached out his hand, which was suddenly covered in stretching, oily black sludge. The sludge crept out, encompassing the fangs while Kitty phased them just-so.
The muck retracted and disappeared once it reached Flash's hand. He opened his fist to reveal the tiny fangs, attached to...dangling earring backings? This was too weird, Kitty thought, but Flash was already ushering her and Lockheed back to the ship.
Kitty counted mentally. They had collected four of the five items that Carol had initially shown them, but it seemed like Valentine's was almost over. She turned worriedly to Lockheed. "Am I ever going to be able to give Peter his-" the dragon cooed in warning as Peter popped up behind her. He gave her a kiss on the head.
"You are totally awesome, you know that?"
Kitty shrugged, "Peter, I've been..."
But he cut her off. "One more to go! This one should be easy."
Drax frowned. "It is the Grove of Nuts. An obnoxious place."
Gamora sighed. "Coconut Grove. A nightclub parading as a planet."
"What's there?" Rocket asked.
"Cloth."
"Fabric?" Kitty asked.
Carol nodded. "It should be an easy snatch and grab. Gamora, you and Kitty will handle this, okay?"
"Got it." Gamora nodded curtly.
Rocket parked the ship in the pulsing planet's parking lot. Kitty had never seen a planet with a parking lot. When they exited the ship, an overpowering bass note shook them.
"Hey, Gamora?" Kitty shouted to her compatriot. She was going to ask her if Valentine's Day was even a thing in space.
"What?" Gamora yelled back.
"I was just wondering..."
"Huh? What was that?"
The entered a white, columned building and the music became overwhelming. Kitty gave up trying to talk. She phased through the crowds of dancing aliens while watching Gamora flip and leap, with a back drop of strobe lights and darkness, from go-go dancer cages to table tops to bar stools to a glass case in the center. She easily thrust her fist into the container, the shattering of glass covered by the rhythmic booming music, and grabbed the sparkling, deep blue fabric sitting on the pedestal within the case. She jumped of the stage, grabbed Kitty's hand, and they phased their way back through the crowd and to the ship.
"No harm, no party foul, I guess." Kitty mumbled to herself.
"There, we did it, all five items." Kitty declared as Gamora set the shimmering blue fabric on a table.
"Not quite..." Carol said. "We still have to dispose of them."
"What?" Kitty sighed, exasperated. "How?"
"Good question." Rocket said, smirking.
"I mean, first we have to disguise the items so they can't be found as easily." Flash said.
Gamora nodded. "I have an idea."
Without any notice, Gamora shoved Kitty into a darkened room and whispered, "just go with it."
Gamora and another pair of hands-Carol?-undressed and clothed Kitty in an outfit not her own, put shoes on her, draped a necklace over her throat, and put earrings on her. Her hair was being brushed, he face touched, and after some time, Kitty felt the ship touch down.
Before she could say or do anything, Groot lifted her up gently and carried her out of the ship, putting her down on solid ground. The ship took off without warning, and left Kitty in the most beautiful garden she had ever seen. A pink sky was the backdrop to hanging vines, exotic flowers with glowing pollen, and graying statues of winged, naked aliens.
Kitty studied herself on a fountain, blinking dizzily. "What's going on?"
As she looked around, Peter appeared, in the same powder blue tuxedo from their first date. "Happy Valentine's Day, Kitty Pryde."
Kitty stared, dumbfounded. "Peter?"
"This is where I wanted to take you, back on our first big phone date. These are the Gardens of Spartax. I think they're the most beautiful place in the galaxy." He paused, "no, second most beautiful."
"Second?"
"First most beautiful place is where ever you are." He smiled warmly and handed her the bouquet of flowers that had been picked on Ceres.
She took the flowers and looked down to see she was wearing the "warrior's shoes," the "Gem of Jarella," and the sparkling night sky-colored fabric, which, as it turned out, was a very nicely fitting dress. She touched her ears to find fang-shaped earrings dangling there. She blinked in disbelief. "Peter Quill, you absolute scoundrel!"
He grinned goofily and pulled her into his arms. "That's me."
"So this whole thing...this whole day...was a trick?"
He nodded. "Yup. We had one of your friends from Breakworld in on it. The guards at K'ai were surprisingly down with it, when I explained it was for..." Peter stopped himself, maybe holding something back. "When I explained what it was for. Heck, Lockheed was in on it from the start."
"So all the Guardians?" He nodded. "And, like, three planets?" He shrugged and smiled. "And those people who chased us on Ceres?"
"Me, Gamora, and Flash." He giggled.
She shook her head and looked down.
Peter looked concerned. "What? Did I do something wrong."
Kitty looked up, and there were tears in her eyes. "Not at all, it's just...nothing I could do or give you would ever, ever live up to all this."
Peter chuckled. "Kitty...that's not...I wasn't."
She shoved a small, wrapped rectangle into his hands. "I made this for you." She looked away as he opened it to find a tape cassette with a hand written label, 'Kitty's Awesome Mix'. "It's just some songs I like...that I thought you might like. It's dumb."
Peter's face lit up in excitement. "What? Dumb? No way! This is awesome!"
He pulled her close into a tight hug and kissed her forehead.
"Being with you is the best gift I could ever dream of. But this tape? Man, this is icing on the cake!"
And they kissed, as the sun set on Valentine's Day in the Gardens of Spartax.