Chapter 8: If At First You Don't Kidnap…
As for Melody, she and E'tann had been occupied when the telepathic assault started. And, well, she could have fought it off much more readily if she'd been doing anything but that — especially because she and E'tann had been telepathically linked at the time.
What should have been a fun experience — feeling each other's excitement and everything else — instead turned into a quick hostage situation. E'tann was in Melody's mind, and so, the Supremor, when it showed up, instantly used his presence there against Melody, berating E'tann with every fear he'd ever expressed to her, every insecurity, every secret worry that he would never live up to his father's legacy.
You will never be the emperor, the Supremor insisted, and the worst part was that E'tann looked like he believed it.
"Of course he will," Melody tried to insist, but the Supremor talked over her.
This line of foolishness ends with you. Submit to the will of the Supreme Intelligence, as all Kree must do.
"Don't listen to it," Melody said as she saw E'tann start to nod his resigned acceptance. "This is a psychic attack. You don't know where this is coming from."
"Melody, the Supremor—"
"For all we know, someone's just using the frequency that links back to the Supremor in my dad's dimension to try to act like a god to anyone susceptible." She was relieved to see E'tann hesitate and reached out to touch him, running her fingers through his hair in their linked minds. "Look, my head has one big Supremor-shaped weakness. Don't believe everything you hear in here."
"There is still truth to—"
"Um, no. This is called a psychic attack. We don't listen to psychic attacks."
"Does this… happen often?" E'tann asked with a frown, gesturing toward the Supremor.
"This specifically?" Melody winced one eye shut. "No, not really. But what does happen is that every time I come to Hala, I can hear the Kree control center in my mind trying to indoctrinate me, so… sorta."
"Really?"
"Yeah, it's not usually this big a deal," Melody said, shrugging her shoulders up to her ears and looking much like her mother sometimes did when she was that age. "I can usually ignore it."
"Usually." E'tann turned back to the Supremor, obviously sizing it up. "So what's changed? Why is it such a big presence now?"
"I don't know. You tell me."
"I don't know psychic planes like you do."
"No, but you know Kree culture better than I do — and Kree legends and Supremor stuff." When E'tann wasn't forthcoming with any possibilities, Melody folded her arms and drummed her fingers. "We almost got kidnapped earlier; do you think the Accusers would have the chops for something like this?"
E'tann frowned. "I think… if they do, then this attack's focus is much bigger than your mind, Melody."
Seeing the look of intense distrust painted all over E'tann's face, Melody reached out to take his hand. "Let me lock this guy away, and let's check on everyone else before we make any further decisions, huh?" she offered. "You're right. Something's wrong."
"We need to check on my father," E'tann said seriously. "If this is a portend of another attack…"
"And we need to check on mine," Melody agreed. "His control center is way more advanced than mine. If he's under attack too…"
"Understood," E'tann said, then glanced once more toward the Supremor. "And if the Supreme Intelligence truly has returned…"
"We'll see what the score is first."
"We're not playing a game, Melody."
"That's not—" Melody laughed. "It's a Terran expression."
"Alright," E'tann said, obviously not in the mood to try to parse what she was saying when the stakes were so high.
Melody sighed. She liked E'tann — she really did — but sometimes, he could be so very Kree. "Hold on," she said, pointing her index finger in his direction to tell him to stay put. When he nodded, she shook out her hands and flew into the air in her mind. She liked being on the telepathic plane; she could do things like that, and it reminded her that any intruders were on her turf.
"I don't know what you're doing here, but you're not welcome," she informed the Supremor, throwing her hands forward to build defenses that looked like a tower right out of a fairy tale. Most of her mental defenses took that form: moats and castle walls that spoke to the romantic nature of her mind. She supposed it made sense that her mind would use the same kind of thing when it locked something in as when it locked things out.
She could still hear the Supremor, but it was much easier to ignore now. So, she turned toward E'tann and gave him a tight smile. "Well," she said, brushing her hands off on her sides in a nervous gesture, "shall we go check on our dads?"
"Yes," he said, though he moved with a nervous energy as well and held tightly to her hand, letting her guide him out of her mind. He had spent enough time in her mind that he could conceivably get in and out without help, but given the circumstances, she didn't blame him for holding on.
When they reentered the physical world, however, they realized quickly that they weren't alone. Someone had taken advantage of their preoccupation with the Supremor to surround them where they had until then been in a covered gazebo in the garden, surrounded by hedges and hidden from view.
They were already in rather compromising positions, considering what they'd been up to before the Supremor showed up. But Melody got to her feet all the same, fully prepared to show the Accusers surrounding them what she was capable of.
And then, an electric current passed through her. She managed to turn off her pain receptors, but she heard E'tann cry out beside her as they both hit the ground. Even if she didn't feel the pain, she was still reeling from the electrocution.
She swore under her breath. Before the Supremor had shown up, she'd been able to handle listening for new and dangerous minds nearby and also listening to make sure she and E'tann wouldn't be interrupted. She'd been able to multitask, because even if she wasn't good at staying out of other people's minds, she was good at everything else to do with telepathy. She was a powerful telepath, just like her mother. And she should have heard them coming.
She doubted it was a coincidence that these Accusers had shown up at the same time her mind was attacked. She just wanted to know where they had found either part of the Supremor or something that could mimic it. And then she'd destroy it herself.
To her fury, the Accusers yanked the two of them to their feet, and one of them collared her. She let out a low hiss and bared her teeth, but the Accuser who had done the collaring simply leered at her. "Mutt," he spit out — complete with actual spittle.
She yanked against their grip but couldn't get out of it, so she defaulted to the training that K and Logan had put every female member of their family through. And when she and Celeste had gotten that training, Noh had supplemented it with a few moves that only triple-jointed people could do.
Before the Accusers could react, she bent nearly in half and then wrapped her ankles around the neck of the Accuser behind her, twisting her body so that he could either lose his head or go to the ground with her — and then, she let him go just long enough to kick him into unconsciousness anyway.
She got quickly to her feet, holding her hands in front of her in a defensive gesture, and glanced around until she saw E'tann doing his best to make life difficult for the Accusers. He was doing all the right things, even going so far as to completely drop to the ground when he couldn't get any leverage, forcing them to drag him as dead weight while he tried to hook his feet on anything he could — but the Accusers had put more manpower on detaining the crown prince than on his girlfriend.
Kinda nice when sexism blows up in their faces, Melody thought to herself, grinning wickedly before she dove into the fight to save her boyfriend.
Obviously, the Accusers had thought Melody was nothing but eye candy, and she almost couldn't blame them. Her brother was the X-Man and her sister was the one dating a Guardian of the Galaxy. As far as anyone paying attention could see, when Melody and Ael were on Hala, they were the weak links in the family. They weren't the heroes. They were ordinary.
Yeah, right.
Melody didn't bother to hide her deep hiss as she darted forward, inserting herself between the three Accusers dragging off E'tann with a low, "Get your hands off my guy!" that was punctuated by a gut punch and then a kick that would have shattered the second guy's knee into tiny pieces if she'd had her super strength. As it was, it sent his knee sideways, even with his body armor, because her grandparents had made sure they were trained to take down literally any kind of alien problem.
In fact, K had taken Melody aside and specifically put her through lots of Kree-centered training when she'd started dating E'tann. And E'tann had been made well-aware of that training the last time he'd been on Earth.
As much as she complained about Wolvie's running punishments, she was eternally grateful to them for all they'd done to keep her safe, and she adored them — and she was going to make sure to tell them exactly that once she got back home.
By that point, the Accusers were starting to rally, finally realizing that Melody was actually a threat and not just an easy distraction. The one that she'd given a limp took hold of E'tann along with a guy who looked like the ringleader, while the third rushed her, trying to wrap his arms around her. She let him get just close enough that he could see her smirk before she bent back nearly to the ground, put her hands on the ground to balance herself, and then jerked her knee up between the pads of his armor and the panels of his Accuser tunic.
He gasped, and she rolled out of the way, letting him collapse on himself before she yanked his helmet off his head and used its weight to knock him out.
She was prepared to help E'tann fight off the last two Accusers, too, but E'tann wasn't as helpless as he had been before. He threw his weight into the limping Accuser's knee, and when the Accuser physically couldn't hold himself up, E'tann purposefully fell on top of him, yanking one arm free long enough to steal a weapon from the Accuser's holster. Just as Melody arrived to help, E'tann jabbed the weapon into the final Accuser's side, and the Kree man collapsed on top of his already injured friend.
"Nice," Melody said, stealing a kiss and then also stealing the weapon from E'tann's grasp so that she could jab the injured guy too, effectively neutralizing all of them, even if two of them were still conscious, just stunned. "Now, let's get out of here before they get a hold of themselves."
"Agreed," E'tann said, though he did take the time to grab their discarded clothes all the same. Melody almost chided him for thinking about modesty at a time like this, but then again, he had to be thinking of appearances at all times. The burden of the throne and all that.
That, she had to admit, was a big part of why she wasn't sure she was ready to say she wanted to be with him for the rest of her life. She knew from his thoughts and from his family's thoughts that he was headed that way, but she wasn't sure she was ready for the royal life, for the constant scrutiny.
For the kidnapping attempts.
Okay, actually, the kidnapping attempts were almost commonplace, considering her family upbringing. So maybe she was slightly more prepared than the average Kree when it came to that particular aspect of E'tann's life.
"Get dressed while you run," Melody told him, pulling her pants on first and then taking off down the maze of blue and red hedges that decorated the garden. She could put on her shirt as she ran, and frankly, she didn't care about the bra.
He followed her lead, pulling on his pants first and then catching up to her. His shirt was slightly more complicated than hers had been, so he was doing buttons as he ran. Thankfully, though, he wasn't slowing down so noticeably that she wanted to tell him to forget about the shirt; she understood that even being shirtless would be impropriety itself if they were caught.
They already were more or less caught. But this was one thing he could control. He could control their level of undress, at least in terms of pants and shirts. Going barefoot could be a Terran quirk if he was pressed.
She loved him, but he was so ridiculous sometimes.
They kept running as fast as they could, and for some reason, all Melody could think about was the fact that her grandfather had totally trained her for this exact problem, maybe even on purpose. He couldn't have possibly foreseen her being chased, recently re-dressed, through Hala's palace gardens by crazy Accusers, but he had definitely stressed that she was not always going to have access to her powers.
Just like all those early morning runs, Melody hated how slowly she was running, too. She hated that she couldn't go any faster than what felt like a light, leisurely jog when she was used to getting places in the span of a second, sometimes even less. And to make matters worse, she was sure she could hear others in the garden, but she didn't have her telepathy to know if they were friend or foe.
With how our luck's been going lately, they're probably more Accusers, she thought grimly — and then was immediately proven right when they turned a corner and almost ran directly into a pair of Accusers.
Without the benefit of telepathy, Melody didn't know if these Accusers were among the few who were actually friendly with Sinta, and all things considered, she wasn't going to stick around and find out. She grabbed E'tann's hand and all but dragged him in a new direction with a muttered, "Heck no."
Her instincts were good, too. The second Melody and E'tann ran away from the Accusers, the two young Kree heard those same Accusers speaking into communication devices at their sides. "We've located them. They're in the northeast quadrant, headed south."
"Ugh," Melody said through her teeth. "Life with you is never boring, is it?"
"In my defense, this doesn't usually happen. The guards are usually better than this."
"I hate to break it to you, E'tann, but I think these guys either killed your guards or convinced them to join their coup."
"My father hand-picked the guards assigned to our family. They wouldn't—"
"Then I hope for their sakes that the Accusers were feeling merciful when they got them out of the way, but all things considered…" Melody pulled him around a corner, and they both took a second to catch their breath. This particular part of the gardens was a dead end, but it was well-decorated, and there was plenty to hide behind. It was the best option they'd seen since they started running for them to get their feet back underneath them.
"I'm going to have to talk to the guards' families," E'tann said, and Melody turned his way in genuine surprise. He looked so heartbroken at the prospect. And that was good; he should have been. Talking to grief-stricken families wasn't supposed to be easy. But it hadn't occurred to her that he would be so personally involved in something like that.
That was definitely a point in his favor. She loved a guy with a good heart and good looks — and someone who was willing to do the hard work without pawning it off.
"You know," she said with a soft smile, "that heart of yours is exactly what Hala needs. The Kree could use more compassion."
E'tann drew himself up, looking like she'd struck him. "I'm not—"
"It's a compliment, cutie," Melody promised quickly. "We Terrans believe our hearts are our strengths."
E'tann paused, his head tipped to the side to consider her, and then broke into a soft smile. "I'm so lucky to have found a Kree who sees strengths in what the rest of Hala criticizes."
"Half Terran," she pointed out.
"And it works to your advantage."
"Oh, good. I was about to have to get on your case if you were gonna be racist about it."
E'tann smiled, though the expression didn't last long when they heard voices beyond them. He pushed himself between her and the line of sight to the rest of the maze, pressing his body against hers as they hid in the shadows, though this time, they weren't trying to be affectionate. Both of them were holding their breaths, and they didn't even realize how close they were until after they heard the voices pass their position.
They both let their shoulders drop, and then, Melody smiled, reached up, and hooked her hands around the back of his neck. "Protective is a good look on you, handsome," she teased.
He flushed purple. "I thought you knew by now that I want nothing for you but safety. I came all the way to your planet the last time I thought you were in danger, remember?"
"Yes, and it was very sweet." She bit her lip, smiled, and stole a quick kiss that lasted long enough to satisfy them both but not so long that they were in danger of getting too caught up in the moment — especially when Melody's powers weren't working as an early warning system.
Still, they stole smiles when the kiss broke and leaned into each other one more time before, almost in tandem, they broke apart and peeked around the corner.
"You're the one with the better hearing," E'tann said at last, carefully.
Melody nodded and closed her eyes, trying to listen for even the soft sounds of breathing. The garden was quiet enough that she should have been able to hear that sort of thing; even the native creatures that were brave enough to venture into the Kree territory were quiet; they could sense predators in the area.
"I don't hear anything," she said — then caught herself and shook her head. "I think. But… I can't be sure, but I don't think we should go east. I could swear I could hear someone trying to cycle breathe."
"You're a wonder, Melody."
"I was forced to do a lot of meditation with Grampa Wolvie."
"I've told you how strange it is that you talk about him that way, yes?"
"Pretty sure the training I got starting at a young age is what's going to get us out of this alive, gorgeous."
"Yes, of course," E'tann said, immediately agreeing and recognizing the rebuke for what it was.
She smirked and took his hand. "C'mon. Let's give these guys the slip and then find my dad so he can get this stupid thing off." She pointed at the collar. "And then, between our two families, I'm pretty sure these idiot Accusers won't know what hit them."