Surprise!

Oh you guys didn't think this collection was finished, did you? I know it's been a while since I last posted a chapter, and since then, a lot has changed in the greater multiverse of my stories. I'd recommend reading from chapter 21 onward in Shadow of Order, and its sequel Shattered Destinies if you want more details. But for now, let's dive right in.

Disclaimer: I do not own Halo, Metroid, the MCU, Bionicle or anything else that is referenced in this chapter.

The darkness that encompassed the prison realm of the Void was but a distant memory, as the continual battle that raged through the dimension lit up the sky in a variety of colors as the two humanoid entities kept battling the massive form of the Galactimind, their powers never halting for even a moment.

After much fighting, the Gravemind had managed to stun its two jailers, sending them both flying far away into the edges of the Void. Now, the lull allowed some progress to be made as the Mind continued its efforts to break through its cage.

Once again, energy slammed into the walls of the Void. Once again, the barrier cracked, forming a tiny window out, but the window slammed shut almost immediately as the power of the two Gods reasserted itself and repaired the damage. Once again, the Gravemind roared in fury. And once again, their battle began in earnest.

This was the same pattern that repeated endlessly throughout their imprisonment: the Gravemind would constantly make an effort to escape, only to be foiled by the efforts of its two nemeses. It could never get farther than making a crack that almost doubled as a window into the greater multiverse before its efforts were all for naught.

They had lost track of how long they'd been in here, how many times the Flood had attempted to escape and how many times the Republic Supreme Commander and Separatist Ruler had prevented it from happening.

The passage of time inside the Void was far more... erratic than it was in the rest of the multiverse. Centuries could fly by in nanoseconds and a minute could last a week, depending on a variety of factors in the Void itself. Of course, the Republic Supreme Commander and Separatist Ruler were able to keep themselves mostly aware of time, at least on a subconscious level.

Truth be told, the two Gods were suffering at least as much as the Gravemind was. While the Flood were stuck here with no way out, the same could be said of the two of them, forced to become the eternal jailers of the Galactimind, while it hurled physical and mental attacks against them in an effort to weaken their resolve.

If they hadn't simply given themselves the mental fortitude to sustain their efforts, the two of them would've been broken by the Gravemind long ago. They couldn't possibly enjoy themselves, but they had become numb to just how painful it was.

But then one day it happened.

Once more, the Gravemind created a crack in the walls of the Void. But it didn't immediately disappear. The Commander and the Ruler were briefly stunned by this fact, allowing the Gravemind to sucker punch them and give itself more time to work.

It quickly became clear to the duo that something was happening on the other side of the tear. Something was distorting time in the region of the Gravemind's window, which kept the crack from fading immediately as it had before.

And it also became very clear as to why: the Gravemind hadn't just been trying to break through the walls of the Void. It had also been telepathically calling for help. And now, that aid had arrived.

On its own, the Gravemind could never break through the Void's walls, not with its adversaries adding their powers to it. But it could thin the walls enough so that energy from the outside could break it open. And that's exactly what happened when the crack turned into a portal.

"NO!" Two sets of voices shouted, their powers rushing to reassert themselves against the barrier.

But it was too late.

...

Salem and Dark Samus had torn a path through the Kree warship, having stowed away prior to the ship's mission. Their captive/dead weight had also been brought aboard, and Salem had to constantly check on him to ensure that he was still alive, while simultaneously ensuring that his presence didn't cause too much disruption.

The two of them had been getting the Gravemind's subconscious messages for a while now, ever since they met on Remnant. Of course, it took them a while to understand what their master was asking of them, and even longer to gather the necessary pieces for it, especially with Dark Samus in such a critical state.

But eventually, they managed to get to where their master was calling, stowing away aboard a Confederacy ship that was sent to investigate the anomalies in question (not realizing that it was Dark Samus who altered their scanners and made them aware of the location).

Once the ship had arrived at its destination, the two females made their move. Effortlessly cutting down Kree with magic and Phazon, they carved their way through the levels of the ship, all while they waited for the moment for their master to emerge.

The confusing nature of the Void meant that the Gravemind had little control over where it could create an anomaly, but the presence of Phazon in Dark Samus acted as a sort of beacon, allowing the crack in the walls to open close to the Phazon clone.

But it was Salem who brought the key, dragging along the barely living body of Voporak, who Dark Samus had managed to create a portal to when her doppelganger blasted him into his space. Salem's immortality prevented the temporal aging from having any lasting effect on her, and soon she had moved him exactly where they needed him, just as their master made its own move.

The crack in reality tore through the ship, damaging several major systems aboard the large Kree vessel. As planned, Salem had placed the body of Voporak right next to where the breach had occurred, and while the anomaly flickered, it didn't fade like last time.

The comatose body of Voporak was still emitting a temporal field, which was keeping the crack in reality present enough for Salem and Dark Samus to pour their energies into it, creating a semi-stable portal that allowed a facsimile of the Primordial form to crawl out of the Void.

The portal slammed shut just as the grotesque body made it through, though the crack still remained. The creature rose up to its full height, with everyone staring at it; Dark Samus and Salem with awe and reverence, the Kree with utter terror.

"Master." Salem whispered.

"At last, freedom, from my eternal cage!" The Gravemind spoke, its voice seeming to come from both the body and the tear at once. "And now all of reality will suffer my rage!"

The Primordial being raised its four hands and let loose Flood spores. A cloud of spores spread throughout the hallways, infecting everything they touched, the Kree soldiers turning into grotesque abominations that immediately turned against their fellows.

All throughout the vessel, the Flood spread rapidly, infecting everything they touched. With the engines damaged, there was fortunately no way for them to fly the ship away, but there were still fighters in the hangers, which the captain immediately ordered them destroyed.

Unfortunately, the warship's own self destruct was unable to be activated, with Salem and Dark Samus sabotaging it after they got onboard. This left the Kree at the mercy of the Flood, who rapidly spread throughout the ship, with the Gravemind laughing all the while.

But the breach in the Void's walls continued to be active, and unnoticed to Salem or Dark Samus, something else happened. A psionic message flew through the crack in reality, searching for any and every non-infected mind within range.

...

In the Benatar, the Guardians of the Galaxy cruised through the depths of space, with Quill's music blaring in the background. The man himself was singing along with it, ditto with Gamora, while Yondu simply hummed along.

Nebula rolled her eyes at the sight while she continued to work on her weapons. Meanwhile, Groot was engrossed in his video games, Rocket was taking a nap, and Mantis was staring intently at one of Quill's old films.

Overall, it was a typical day for the Guardians, one which was brought to a screeching halt when images and feelings flooded into all of their minds. A Kree warship, a strange dimensional disturbance, two dark figures, all wrapped up in an overwhelming sense of urgency.

It ended with a set of coordinates before the message ended, leaving everyone in various levels of pain, with Mantis in particular clutching her head with both hands and hyperventilating.

"Ok, did anyone else feel that, or was it just me?" Quill asked, shutting off his music in the process.

"It definitely wasn't just you." Nebula shook her head. "I've never felt anything like that before."

"It was some kind of disturbance." Mantis whispered, her eyes widened in horror. "We need to get there, right now!"

"I am Groot."

"That's a fair point." Rocket agreed. "It could be some sort of trap."

"Whatever it is, I doubt it's something we can afford to ignore." Gamora countered. "Trap or not, something just sent a psychic message to all of us. We can't just let it go unanswered."

"And we may not have been the only ones to get the message." Nebula nodded.

"It's your call, Quill." Yondu put his hand on the back of Star-Lord's seat. Quill, for his part, didn't take long.

"We're setting a course for those coordinates." He punched the coordinates into the navicomputer. "I suggest everyone put on their mean faces."

...

Carol Danvers flew through the depths of space, heading towards the new Skrull homeworld at faster than light speeds. While traveling, she couldn't help but think back to what had happened to her in the years since her return to Earth.

She had kept her end of the bargain, helping Talos and the refugees find a new home for the Skrulls, before delivering on her promise to the Supreme Intelligence, foiling a number of other operations from the Kree Empire.

Then of course, the Tidal Wave had happened. The Flood parasite had swarmed throughout reality, attacking countless planets simultaneously. She had fought back as best as she could, defending what she could, but even she couldn't be everywhere at once, and her actions had brought her the Gravemind's attention.

She had gotten Fury's page, but had been too busy being crushed by a Star Road to reply. Of course, she had gotten free when the Precursor structure shattered, but that was the point when the crisis was over.

She had briefly stopped by Earth in the aftermath, meeting with Fury and ensuring that her homeworld had managed to survive before returning back to the depths of space, doing whatever she could to aid whoever managed to survive.

It was a rough few years, though there had been some good to come out of what was being called the Tidal Wave: the Kree Empire had suffered significant casualties from the Flood, meaning that they wouldn't be launching conquest missions for quite some time.

Then of course, there was the fact that the Mad Titan Thanos was killed prior to the event, his armies subsequently shattered during the Flood attack. Of course, if Fury was right, the Titan's death was what allowed this to happen.

Her wandering thoughts were interrupted by a searing pain in her skull. Images telepathically bored their way into her mind, showing a dimensional rift aboard a Kree warship, with two dark figures standing in front of it. The vision ended with coordinates branded into her brain.

"What the hell was that?"

She hadn't the faintest clue about what just happened, but she could feel an overwhelming sense of urgency that wasn't her own. Carol wasn't sure whether she could trust the strange vision, but if the Kree were involved, it was definitely worth looking into.

With the coordinates firmly in mind, Carol made her detour and flew as fast as she could towards the ship.

...

Samus was simply flying through the void, tracking her quarry when she felt it: a telepathic message, both strong but faint, and garbled. But she could see Dark Samus and Salem, apparently aboard a Kree warship and in front of a dimensional rift. The vision ended with a set of coordinates.

Her first thought was to call Republic High Command, but she hesitated. The whole reason she had taken this assignment solo was to free up Republic resources for more useful purposes. But at the same time, a warning like this didn't bode well for anyone.

After debating with herself for a moment, Samus moved her hand away from the comms and instead gunned her ship's engines. Her course of action had been decided; she would investigate things alone, and call in support if she needed it. There was no point in getting Republic Command worked up over a wild goose chase.

Within half an hour, Samus had arrived at the coordinates she had been given, her ship halted some fair distance away from the Kree warship, which had seen better days. She could see the damage clear as day, with the engines out and several corridors blown into space.

Running a scan of the vessel, she detected some form of dimensional anomaly, but she interference from said anomaly kept her from getting any deeper scans than that. It was clear that she would have to board the vessel personally to gain an idea about what was going on.

Spying an open docking bay, she maneuvered her gunship towards it.

...

"Would you care to explain why you sent one of your warships to the middle of nowhere?"

Taryan Kasius stood tall, attempting to retain his dignity in spite of the sheer terror he was feeling. It was clear that the Makuta wasn't fooled, especially when two of his Rahkshi moved closer, brandishing staffs that crackled with electricity.

"We detected an anomaly out in the depths of space." The Kree House ruler replied quickly. "The Confederacy wanted to investigate this, in the hopes-"

"Of finding an advantage over me?" Teridax's mask was expressionless besides from the narrowed eyes. "And now you've lost contact with your people. Such a waste."

"We are preparing to dispatch a search team as we speak, Master." Kasius bowed, avoiding the Makuta's gaze. "We will find out what happened."

"Don't bother." Kasius looked up in confusion as a portal opened behind Teridax. "I will investigate the matter personally. In the meantime, my sons will remain to administer... discipline."

The last thing Teridax heard before the portal closed was Kasius' pained screaming.

Alright, and that's the end of this chapter. I was originally going to have this as part of a longer chapter, but due to length and other circumstances, I decided to make it a two-parter. Rest assured, barring unforeseen circumstances, the second part should be out next week, and you'll find out just what happens next.

With that said, I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter and reviews are always welcome.