Alright, and now we continue right from where we left off in the previous chapter. Quick recap: with help from Salem and Dark Samus, the Flood were able to get a small amount of themselves out of the Void and onboard a Kree warship owned by the Confederacy.
The two Gods trying to contain it in the Void sent out a telepathic summons that captured the attention of Samus Aran, the Guardians of the Galaxy and Captain Marvel, who are heading to investigate.
Unbeknownst to anyone of those parties, Makuta Teridax is aware of the loss of the Kree warship and is also on his way there. Suffice to say, there's a lot of pieces on the board, so let's dive right in.
Disclaimer: I do not own Halo, Metroid, the MCU, Bionicle or any other franchise mentioned in this chapter.
There was no one to greet Samus as she stepped out of her gunship, hostile or otherwise. The hanger bay was a mess, with damaged ships scattered all over the area, as well as several overhead lights smashed into pieces.
Yet there were no bodies. It was clear that some kind of struggle and conflict had gone down aboard the ship, but there wasn't a single corpse to show for it. Of course, that wasn't too unusual considering all the threats that existed in the multiverse, but it still left the ex-Bounty Hunter on edge.
Journeying deeper into the ship, the same pattern could be seen: lots of bloodstains and battle damage, but no corpses. She had her Scan Visor active, searching through everything, but at the moment, she couldn't discern just what had caused this.
There were a number of guesses, one of which she really didn't want to entertain, but Samus couldn't rule it out either. She continued her journey through the bowels of the Kree ship, her arm cannon still at the ready when she opened the door to a cargo bay.
"I'm telling you, this place gives me the creeps." The door opened to a group of different aliens, all searching around the cargo bay.
"At least it's better than- who the fuck are you?" As one, the group all had their weapons out and pointed at Samus, who raised her arm cannon at them in response. She was facing different varieties of firearms, swords, and even a glowing red arrow that responded to the owner's whistling. "Dude, you're outnumbered, so I suggest you surrender."
Samus didn't immediately respond, instead scanning the group in question. Once she had them identified, she lowered her arm cannon, though she still kept her hand on it just in case.
"You're the Guardians of the Galaxy."
"There's a chick under there?" Rocket muttered, as he and Yondu looked at each other, the latter shrugging.
"Nice to know we have a fan." Quill replied, none of the Guardians lowering their weapons. "Now who are you?"
"Samus Aran, I'm with the Republic." That finally got the Guardians to lower their own weapons, though none of them put them away.
"What are you doing here?" Nebula asked, her sword still in hand.
"I could ask you the same question." Samus countered. There was a brief moment of tension before Gamora spoke up.
"We had a vision." The green skinned alien replied. "Of this ship and the exact coordinates to reach it."
"And since it wasn't far, we decided to investigate." Star-Lord continued with a sigh.
"Then we're in the same boat." Samus noted. "What have you found?"
"A whole lot of nothing." Yondu shook his head. "Blood and battle damage, but no bodies."
"I am Groot."
"Yeah, someone definitely went to a lot of trouble to make sure this ship and any fighters couldn't fly again." Rocket agreed.
"And your ship?"
"We left it locked down with Mantis." Nebula replied. "No one's getting in or out."
"So, since we're all here, why not team up?" Quill suggested.
"I could think of worse allies." Samus said after a moment. "It goes without saying that no one goes off alone."
"I am Groot."
"Do you want to take charge?" The ex-Bounty Hunter countered. "Besides, I may have an idea of what we're dealing with."
...
After spending a considerably longer than necessary amount of time discussing who should be in charge, the oddball group was finally continuing their journey through the Kree warship.
And through it all, Nebula was feeling uneasy. It felt like a thousand eyes were watching them with every step they took, yet there was still no sign of anyone. Samus' explanation of who she was tracking and who the two figures were in their vision hadn't helped, and the Guardians were constantly looking around with their heads on a swivel.
Eventually, they came to a recreational room, where it looked like a tornado of blood had gone off, spilling blue Kree fluid on every surface. Even the hardened warriors of Nebula and Gamora were unnerved by the sight.
"Okay, this really feels like one of your old horror movies, Quill." Rocket muttered, his grip tightening on his rifle.
"What the hell could've done this?" Star-Lord asked, not expecting an answer.
"Quite a few things." Samus replied. "None of them pleasant. But if I were to hazard a guess here, I'd say..." The ex-Bounty Hunter trailed off as she caught sight of what seemed to be a sickly green pile of flesh in the corner of the ceiling. "It can't be..."
"It can't be... what?" Samus rounded on the Guardians, her posture far tenser than it had been a moment ago.
"Space suits, now!" Samus' tone left no room for argument, and the Guardians quickly snapped them up, the hexagonal patterns settling all over their bodies.
"Out with it girl!" Yondu said. "What exactly are we dealing with here?" Before Samus could reply, an uncannily familiar roar made itself known inside the room, causing the other Guardians to look around in terror. Quill summed up their thoughts in two simple words.
"Oh shit."
...
Teridax walked out of the dimensional rift into the darkened hanger of the Kree warship. The first thing he noted was that all the shuttles and fighters had been broken or sabotaged beyond repair. The second thing he noticed was the sound of many footsteps heading towards him.
It appeared that there were still survivors aboard this vessel, though they were in no rush to greet him. Instead, his keen hearing sensed that they were surrounding him, concealed in shadow. The Makuta was tempted to laugh.
"You think the darkness will protect you?" Teridax called. "The Shadows belong to me." All the darkness was absorbed, leaving the hiding beings visible in the new light. What he saw actually made him take a step back.
He had never seen them personally before now, of course. His resurrection was evidently a side effect of their passing. But he had seen the many recordings the multiverse had made of their presence, their power. It was something he knew to be wary of.
So when the unmistakable forms of the Flood were what he found hiding in the dark, his first instinct was to disbelief their presence. They were supposed to be gone, they had been utterly destroyed at the end of the Tidal Wave. They shouldn't be here.
That brief reaction only lasted as long as it took for the Flood leap at him, and he reacted by unleashing a wave of Shadow that tore the first ranks apart and sent the rest flying. But the Kree born forms were quick to recover and attack again, some pulling out weapons to fire upon him.
He retaliated with plasma this time, the blistering heat enough to burn them down to their basic components. He didn't even flinch as an energy bolt struck his armor, but he still zeroed in on the offending shooter and burned its body to ash with heat vision.
The rest of the fight was hardly impressive, these lowly forms barely able to threaten him. In moments, the hanger bay was even more wrecked than it had been before, and Teridax had made sure to disintegrate any Flood biomass left behind.
No doubt many organics would be feeling fear at confronting the Flood again. He had no such weakness. Between his indestructible body and being made of energy, the Makuta knew that he had nothing to be concerned about with these basic forms.
Granted, he wasn't willing to take any risk, his adaption power completely sealing his armor and making it completely impossible for even a single cell of the Flood to reach his antidermis.
Nevertheless, he knew that should the Flood be allowed to grow, their potential would also grow exponentially and put even him at risk. He needed to find the source, and put an end to this infestation.
Telepathically, he reached out, taking care to avoid delving into the Flood hive mind itself. He was surprised to find one particularly shielded mind and several he could read like an open book, all of whom were being attacked by the Flood.
They weren't Kree, in fact, they would normally be considered his enemies. Under any other circumstances, he would gladly leave them to their fate. But with what was happening now, he needed all the allies he could get, and calling in his own would take too long.
Ensuring that he knew exactly where they were, Teridax triggered his teleportation power and vanished.
...
With a whistling tone, Yondu's Yaka arrow flew on an accurate path, flying right through all the Flood forms in the room in an instant. But what would've killed any number of pirates didn't even slow the Parasite down.
"Oh come on!" Yondu shouted. "I thought you were kidding about that!"
"That's not going to work." Samus blasted several forms with her beams, turning them to ash. She then launched a missile into a cluster of combat forms and Pod Infectors, blowing them all to bits.
It had only been a couple minutes since the Flood had started flowing in like their namesake, but it certainly felt a lot longer than that. They came from everywhere, all of them quite clearly the remnants of the Kree crew.
There hadn't been any actual speaking from the Flood, meaning that either they hadn't assembled a Gravemind, or it didn't feel like talking. But ultimately, it mattered very little as the tide continued to wash in.
Gamora cut down a combat form with her sword, while Peter blasted another that tried to catch her off guard. Rocket was shouting manically as he opened fire on the combat forms around them, while Yondu wasn't much better as he helped using a gun borrowed from Rocket.
Soon, the number of forms slowed to a trickle, but a new problem decided to show itself. Dark Samus revealed herself by blasting her doppelganger, sending the orange and gold-suited Samus flying back against the wall. The Phazon clone, now looking far more complete than it had been after the Tidal Wave, turned her attention and arm cannon at the Guardians.
"Scatter!"
The oddballs barely managed to get out of the blast range of a Super Missile, the shockwave scattering them all over the cafeteria. The Guardians were too dazed to take appropriate notice of the infection forms that began crawling towards them, eager for helpless prey.
Abruptly, the Flood infectors fell victim to chain lightning, which lanced around the room and prevented the Guardians from becoming nothing more than food. Confused, Dark Samus searched for the source, which left her vulnerable to a Super Missile from Samus.
Recoiling in pain, the Black Hunter was hit by an explosive blast, increasing the damage she suffered. In response, Dark Samus let herself disperse into a cloud of Phazon particles, which immediately flew out of the room.
"What just happened?" Rocket asked, as they all turned to the source of that energy beam. A massive armored titan stepped out of the Shadows, with Samus' eyes widening behind her visor.
"Makuta?"
"Get down!" A pair of heat beams lanced from Teridax's eyes and struck a combat form behind Samus, turning it to ash. "It seems you all missed one."
The Guardians shared a confused look between them, but Samus was the only one who was aware of just who he was and what he could do. And the ex-Bounty Hunter had no plan of taking any chances here.
"Ah, the great Samus Aran." Makuta chuckled at the ex-Bounty Hunter's arm cannon, which was still pointed at him. "I believe this is the first time we've met face to face."
"What are you doing here, Teridax?" Samus' eyes narrowed. "Why the hell would you come to a drifting space hulk?"
"My reasons for being here hardly matters right now." The Makuta replied, his smile dropping. "The Flood are spreading throughout this ship, and we all know how dangerous they are."
"Okay, can we all take a step back for a second?" Quill interjected, seemingly not noticing or not caring about the tension in the air. "Who the hell is this guy?"
"Meet Makuta Teridax, currently the Republic's most wanted fugitive." Samus didn't take her eyes off the Makuta, but there was a tinge of annoyance in her tone. "Did you even read the briefing we sent you?"
"Was that what that was?" Yondu shrugged. "We kinda skimmed over it."
"How inspiring." Teridax sighed. "We're wasting time, Aran. You know that."
"You're helping us?"
"The enemy of my enemy is my ally." Teridax said. "And I have as much reason to want the Flood to stay gone as you do." He looked in the direction of the Guardians of the Galaxy. "Even if it means working with those idiots."
"No one asked you to show up, ugly." Red eyes were drawn to Rocket's diminutive form when he spoke.
"The rodent speaks." Teridax snarked. "How amusing."
"What did you just call me?!" Rocket turned his gun towards Teridax but the other Guardians were quick to restrain him. "I really don't like this guy."
"Nevertheless, he has a point." Samus lowered her arm cannon with a sigh. "We're alone on a ship filled with Flood, and every moment we delay means that they have a better chance of getting off the ship."
"You can't contact my brother?" Makuta asked. "I daresay this is a moment I would actually welcome his presence."
"We're being jammed." Samus replied. "I can't get a signal out."
"Oh that's just fantastic." Yondu groaned. "We can't actually call anyone?"
"We can still contact each other inside the ship." Samus clarified. "But any long range or multiversal communications are blocked completely."
"Tell me, how did you all get aboard?" Teridax questioned. "I assume you came in your own ships."
"Shit." Realizing what he was implying, Samus immediately contacted her ship's AI. "Adam, do you read me?"
"Signal's faint, but I read you Lady."
"We're dealing with a substantial Flood infestation." She quickly explained. "Lock the ship down on every level, do not let anything in until I return."
"Understood."
As Samus was doing this, the other Guardians were also reacting. Following her lead, Quill immediately called Mantis and told her to take the Benatar out of the hanger, remaining on station in case they needed to extract quickly.
"Alright, now that that's done, our priority is figuring out just how the Flood got onboard." Teridax said. "And more importantly, making sure that they can't get anywhere else."
"We're heading to the bridge then." Samus agreed. "That's the first place we need to look."
"After you, Lady." Makuta gestured to one of the doors. Samus responded by pointing her arm cannon at him again.
"You're going first."
...
The unlikely allies made their way through the ship, taking down any Flood form they encountered, which was surprisingly light, all things considered. The Guardians were quick to realize this as well.
"Something's not right." Gamora cut down one Flood form, and didn't even flinch as laser vision streaked over her shoulder and burned another Flood form to ash. "A ship like this should have a far larger crew."
"So where are the rest?"
"Hopefully we'll find out when we get to the bridge." Samus fired off a Super missile, clearing the last cluster of Flood forms out of their path. "And with any luck, we'll also find Dark Samus."
"I fail to see how that would be lucky." Quill murmured softly.
After a few more minutes, the group arrived at the bridge doors. They were locked, but neither the Makuta nor the Chozo Hatchling had any intention of letting that stop them. The group walked through the ruined door to find the bridge completely abandoned.
"This place has seen better days." Yondu said, looking at all the wrecked control consoles. "I guess they wanted to be sure that the Flood couldn't escape."
"Well, we don't have to worry about that, at least." Samus replied as she scanned a nearby console. "The engines are damaged beyond repair. Apparently the rift opened inside the ship, which disrupted a lot of systems." The ex-Bounty Hunter tensed as she felt a cold presence loom over her.
"It seems rather odd for the Flood to be so docile." Teridax noted, looking over her shoulder. "I would assume that they would've sent out a distress signal or found some other way to get off this ship."
"Found something interesting." Nebula called, drawing several gazes towards her. "This vessel isn't part of the normal Kree Empire, it belongs to the Confederacy."
"Those two-timing slavers?" Yondu spat. "If that's the case, then good riddance."
"Does it say why they were here?" Quill asked.
"Apparently, they detected a dimensional anomaly and sent this ship to investigate." The Daughter of Thanos replied. "Apparently, it's been constantly appearing and reappearing for quite some time."
"Uh guys, we might have a problem!" Rocket shouted, looking at a separate console. "I think I found where most of the Flood went."
They rushed over to the screen, only to see security footage of a separate hanger to the ones that Samus and the Guardians had landed in. Hundreds of Flood forms could be seen, rushing to and from several fighters, ones that the Flood had apparently been repairing.
And now several of those fighters were warming up, their engines flaring as they were set to leave. Samus immediately rounded on Teridax.
"Get us in there, right now!"
To the Makuta's credit, he didn't voice any complaint as he teleported himself and Samus into the hanger. The duo immediately set to work demolishing the fighters that attempted to lift off, which unfortunately drew the Flood's attention to them.
Several combat forms and fighters immediately turned on them and opened fire, forcing the unlikely duo to avoid the shots. Several fighters attempted to flee, but Teridax managed to grab them with his magnetic powers, leaving Samus to blow them apart with seeker missiles.
After scrapping those fighters, the Makuta and Chozo warrior made short work of the rest of the Flood in the hanger, but any good cheer they may have had vanished when the Guardians reported that that wasn't the only hanger, and the point was proven when several fighters began streaking past the open void of space.
"Mantis, get on those fighters!" Gamora shouted. "Don't let any of them escape!"
To her credit, Mantis reacted quickly and brought the Benatar around, the ship's weapons lighting up the night sky as she tore through multiple fighters with ease. This was aided by the Guardians managing to get some of the point defenses back online. But the Flood weren't interested in a dogfight, and a dozen slipped through her defense before Mantis could stop them.
The fighters flew far too fast, outpacing the Benatar with their Flood created upgrades. But just as it seemed that they were in the clear, several blasts of energy took them all out one by one. Mantis watched in awe as the source revealed itself to be a human woman in a red and blue suit.
"Who the hell is that?"
...
Soon, the Guardians were all gathered in the hanger alongside, Samus, Teridax and this new arrival, who introduced herself as Carol Danvers, and also demanded to know who they were and why the Flood were here.
"Carol Danvers..." Samus ran a brief scan of the woman, and found herself impressed by her capabilities, but more importantly, she realized where she knew that name from. "You're friends with Nick Fury, correct?"
Carol visibly tensed. "How do you know Fury?"
"I'm with an organization that's been working closely with Fury since the Tidal Wave." Samus replied. "Have you heard of the Republic?"
"I've heard the name." She admitted, visibly relaxing.
"Is this really the time or place?" Teridax pointed out. "I believe we were trying to keep the Flood from escaping."
"Relax, I destroyed any remaining fighters." Carol pointed out. "They're not going anywhere."
"So what's the plan?" Rocket interjected. "I mean, we have one, don't we?"
"Right now, we need to clean the Flood out of this ship." Samus said. "Ideally, that means setting off the self-destruct, but I'll settle for just blowing this ship to hell the manual way."
"Yeah, I don't think our ship has enough firepower to do that." Quill noted.
"I could do it." Carol shrugged. "It wouldn't take very long."
"Unfortunately, that's also our secondary objective."
"And what exactly is the primary one?" Carol questioned, crossing her arms.
"Finding out how the Flood escaped in the first place, and keeping them from doing so again." Samus replied, deciding to test a theory she had. "We all got that same telepathic message, right? You all saw that dimensional rift?"
Everyone except Teridax immediately made affirmative noises, confirming her suspicions. He hadn't been close when they all got that vision, which meant that the Makuta was here for another reason. How and why was something that could be figured out later.
"Best guess is that that's how the Flood got out." The ex-Bounty Hunter continued. "We know my Phazon doppelganger is here, so it stands to reason that she had a hand in all this."
"Salem is likely here as well." Teridax spoke up. "She would undoubtedly be with Dark Samus, wouldn't she?"
"Undoubtedly." Samus' eyes narrowed. "We're going to have to deal with them one way or the other."
"Then what the hell are we waiting for?" Yondu asked. "Let's find them already!"
...
Between the combined powers of Makuta, Samus and Captain Marvel, any Flood form that attempted to attack their group found themselves very easily put down. At one point, the Flood attempted to ambush them at a three way intersection, with the three powerhouses taking a hall in response. Teridax watched as one horde made their way towards him, the Gravemind mocking all the while.
"The shadow flees from the light." The rasping tones of the Gravemind echoed through the Flood forms. "A hopeless struggle against my might."
"Your time is over, Parasite." Lightning filled the hallway, followed by a wave of plasma. "This multiverse is mine, now."
Meanwhile, the Guardians of the Galaxy watched as they blasted through the Flood that were attacking them, observing as Samus, Carol and Teridax burned down a wave of Flood in seconds.
"Does anyone else feel like we're not needed?" Rocket muttered, looking over the gun in his hand.
"There's certainly a truth to that." The Guardians turned at the unexpected voice, only to be sent flying by a gravitational wave sent by Salem. In moments, they had all been pushed against the wall, as Salem attempted to crush them.
"These pathetic Guardians are the best you have to offer?" Salem's smug tone vanished as she was struck in the chest by a blast of Shadow, sending her flying down the hall.
"Pest."
Teridax smirked as he slowly approached Salem. She attempted to freeze the Makuta solid, but his ice resistance power prevented it from having any effect. He retaliated by using gravity to slam her into the ceiling, then the floor, repeatedly.
"The so-called Queen of the Grimm, rendered so low." The Makuta hit her with a burst of lightning. "I don't know why Cinder ever thought so highly of you."
"We don't have to fight." Salem coughed, as she hit him with a gravitational burst.
"True. You could just lie down and die right now, but I imagine that's a bit of a problem for you, isn't it?"
"That's not what I mean." Salem managed to avoid the laser vision he sent her way, before raising her hands in a peaceful gesture. "We could join together." Teridax paused, seeming to consider the offer. Then he shattered her.
"Do you think I'm a fool?!" The Makuta snarled as she reformed. "You actually believe I would submit myself to the Flood?"
"The master will be free." Salem replied, hurling an energy ball at Teridax, which caused a massive explosion. When the smoke cleared, Salem was gone. "You are simply delaying the inevitable."
...
Back inside the Void, the two Gods were struggling to keep the rift from fully opening, actively fighting against the Galactimind in the process. The Mind of the Flood had tripled its efforts to break free, especially with a foothold in the outside, and the Supreme Commander and Ruler were slowly forced to give ground.
"We have to hold it! We can't let this thing get free, not after all that's been sacrificed!"
"You persist too long after your own defeat." The Gravemind snarled. "Your attempts to hold me only delayed the inevitable." As the Mind spoke, the tip of a Star Road pressed against the rift, creating and widening the crack until an actual portal was formed.
"NOW!"
That was exactly what the two of them had been waiting for, and with enough energy held in reserve, they unleashed it against that portion of the Galactimind body, causing it to disintegrate and forcing it to regenerate. But that wasn't the sole purpose of the energy wave, as those on the other side of the rift found out the hard way.
...
Meanwhile, Salem and Dark Samus had returned to the rift, aiding their master's Primordial form in breaking the doorway down. With the interlopers on board this ship, the Gravemind had prioritized getting more powerful forms through in order to deal with them.
And so far, it was working. Between the body of Voporak keeping the rift in reality stable, alongside the combined energies of Dark Samus, Salem, the power of the unique Primordial body, and the Galactimind's own efforts, the hole in the wall of the Void was slowly widening.
Eventually another portal was formed, as the tip of a Star Road started to push through. But any celebration the trio on the outside might've had was cut short when that Star Road disintegrated.
Energy emerged from the rift, slamming into Voporak, Dark Samus and Salem, vaporizing all three of them. The latter two regenerated just in time to see the crack seal completely, with the Gravemind's roar abruptly cut off.
But the energy didn't stop there, as the local burst specifically targeted the Flood biomass spread throughout the derelict and beyond, utterly obliterating all Flood forms in the vicinity, with only the Primordial form (and those it was shielding right next to it) surviving.
"No!" Salem screamed for all of them. "Not now! Not when we were so close."
"I believe you're about to have bigger problems." The trio turned just to see the Makuta, Captain Marvel, Samus and the Guardians of the Galaxy standing in the hallway. "This ends now."
As the Primordial form rose back up, Carol immediately launched herself into the creature, sending both of them flying through the wall and deeper into the ship. Dark Samus acted quickly then, firing off Phazon bolts wildly at the Guardians before turning them on Samus, who weaved and ducked wildly in return, firing all the while.
That left the Guardians and the Makuta against Salem, and with one swipe of the Grimm Witch's hand, it quickly became Salem vs Teridax once more. Quill and the other Guardians quickly rose to their feet, only to find themselves in an empty hallway with multiple holes broken in them.
"Does anyone else feel like a third wheel in this?" Star-Lord asked, before a flash of movement drew his attention to the ceiling. "Oh shit!"
Quill launched himself back on his jet boots as several mini-Abomination forms attempted to land on top of him, the last surviving batch of the Flood forms on the ship. He wasn't completely successful in getting away, as a tentacle latched around his leg and pulled him downward.
"Get off me!" He fired wildly at the Flood form, successfully shooting off the tentacle that was holding him, only for another to grab hold.
"You will be my vanguard." The Gravemind spoke through them, its voice both enraged and yet somewhat unsteady. "My messengers spreading victory everlasting!"
"I think we'll pass, ugly." Rocket vaporized one of the Abominations with an explosive, sending Flood guts flying everywhere. He turned to see another abomination get sent flying and turned to the source.
"I am Groot."
"Yeah, yeah. Don't get cocky." Rocket fired on that Flood form as it tried to recover. "They'll eat you alive, remember."
Elsewhere, Gamora and Nebula each cut down a form with their blades, hacking them into pieces so they could recover. Yondu stomped one's head into the ground and Quill finished off another with a blast to the head.
Panting, the Guardians quickly took a look around, and found that all the Flood forms were now non-responsive. "We did it, go team." Quill said between breaths, then they all jumped as the massive form of Teridax appeared right in front of them.
"So, you took care of these last creatures." The Makuta's expression remained neutral. "Not bad." With a raised hand, Teridax coated the remains of the Flood bile with plasma, burning them all away.
He had just finished when Samus emerged from one of the holes that they had made, her arm cannon still at the ready, lowering it upon seeing that everyone was still standing.
"The Great Hunter returns." Teridax snarked. "I assume your doppelganger has been dealt with?"
"For the moment." Samus' eyes narrowed behind her visor. "Where's Salem?"
"Space." The Makuta waved his hand dismissively. "You can pick her up later if you want."
"I hate to interrupt this lovely chat." Rocket interjected. "But aren't we missing someone?"
That someone was immediately thrown through yet another wall, groaning in pain as she landed in front of them. This put everyone else on edge as Carol recovered, now looking even more pissed off.
"You need some help?"
"I wouldn't say no." Came the answer to Samus' question, before she flew back through the wall, leaving Samus to follow with her Speed booster, while Teridax teleported himself and the Guardians to the battle site. There they found the Primoridial, who wasn't thrilled with their presence.
"Did you think me beaten?!" A wave of energy flew from the misshapen Flood form, blasting all of the Guardians back down the hall, and staggering Samus, Teridax, and Carol. "Your efforts only delay the inevitable."
"Does this thing ever shut up?" Carol had already recovered and sent a burst of photon energy at the Flood form, but through some unseen mechanism, the beam was completely absorbed. The Primordial sent a wave of spores her way, but a beam of plasma from Samus' arm cannon burned them away.
"I'm not sure that's going to work." Samus said. "I think it's going to take all of us." She looked at the Makuta pointedly, who simply snorted but said nothing.
Without a word, Samus unleashed the energy of her most powerful beam; the Zero laser, which began tearing into the Primordial body at a very slow pace as most of the energy was absorbed. Teridax followed with a beam of disintegration energy, which began to fray whatever defenses the Primordial had even further.
But the coup de grace came when Captain Marvel unleashed twin beams of energy from her hands, with more than enough energy that the heat began melting the hull behind the Flood form. Between Samus' Zero Laser, Carol's Photon beam and Teridax's disintegration, the Primordial form was vaporized.
The resulting overload of energy blasted a hole straight through the vessel, blowing yet another hole into the vacuum of space. While Samus' gravity suit and Teridax's magnetic powers kept them from being sucked out, and Carol simply kept herself steady with her powers, the Guardians weren't so lucky.
Most of the Guardians were able to grab handholds or make them, with Gamora using her sword for that purpose, Quill using his jet boots, Nebula grabbing onto a piece of hallway, Groot extending his arm and planting his feet through the floor. However, Yondu and Rocket were pulled out by the vacuum towards the breach.
Fortunately, Samus was able to grab Yondu with her grapple beam while Carol flew out into the void and grabbed Rocket before he could get too far. Once they were all back on solid footing, Samus immediately contacted her ship.
"Adam, scan the wreckage." There was a moment of quiet before the AI replied.
"There are no traces of the Flood anywhere." The AI said. "Between that energy wave and your destruction of the Primordial, all pieces of the Parasite seem to have been eradicated."
"Great, good job, team." Rocket rolled his eyes. "Can we go now?"
"No one is going anywhere." Samus said. "Not until we've swept the ship and we're sure that no one is carrying any Flood spores on them."
"I think I'm clean." Captain Marvel drawled, letting her powers glow brighter as they burned away any Flood particles that were on her. Teridax simply ran a coat of plasma over his own body, incinerating any potential Flood biomass that may have tried to stow away.
"I believe this is a waste of time." Makuta said simply, watching as Samus scanned the Guardians herself, all while they were clearly engaged in some sort of whispered conversation over their radios. "Oh please, your efforts are so transparent. At least try to make it difficult for me-"
Teridax had to admit, he hadn't expected Samus to turn and simply fire upon him as fast as she had. Furthermore, her combined beams had proven one of his fears; the Wave beam in particular allowed it to bypass the otherwise impenetrable armor shell and burn directly into his antidermis.
Fortunately, the energy was still mostly dissipated by the armor and only a small amount of the Makuta's essence was burned away. Unfortunately, it still hurt, and the moment of distraction allowed Rocket and Quill to throw their own devices at the Makuta's feet, trapping his hands in gravity traps.
Nebula and Gamora leapt at the Makuta with their blades, in an effort to breach his armor, but Teridax simply negated the gravity devices with his own gravity power before sending the two Daughters of Thanos flying into the Guardians.
Samus simply ignored the negated Gravity and fired again, but Teridax's Dodge power simply moved him away before he unleashed a stream of electricity at the ex-Bounty Hunter. For a brief moment, Samus was pinned, but Captain Marvel took the opportunity to blast the Makuta, sending him through the wall.
Teridax took that moment of respite to create a dimensional rift that enveloped him, just before Samus could close in and finish him off. The ex-Bounty Hunter lowered her arm cannon as the portal vanished, while the Guardians rushed in with their weapons at the ready.
"Wait, is he already gone?" Quill asked. "Did he retreat that easily?"
"Looks like it." Carol noted, then turned to Samus with a questioning look. "He was a bad guy, right?"
"Yes, he is." She murmured as an afterthought, looking around the ship wreck. "Either way, the Republic needs to know about all this."
...
An unknown amount of time later.
A crack in reality appeared once more.
Well, that's certainly an ominous ending. For the record, I've left the time of the final scene ambiguous, for you and me. It could be ten minutes from the previous attempt by the Flood to escape, it could be centuries, or it could billions of years later.
I wanted to get in a scenario where my multiverse's current Big Bad had a confrontation with the old one. And while Makuta Teridax fared well, make no mistake, if the Flood managed to get to a larger stage of infection, he'd be in serious trouble.
And he knew it, hence allying with the heroes in the first place. And before anyone claims it's out of character for him, Teridax did the exact same thing with the Toa Mahri against the Barraki and Vakama for the Vahi, so it has precedent.
I also wanted to leave in a chance for the Flood to return if I feel so inclined. I don't have any current plans for them, but it's nice to have the option available. I also just want to make it clear that the Flood cannot escape on their own, so if they do return, it will not be easy for them.
Anyway, the rest of this story sans Flood will be continued in the next chapter of Shattered Destinies, which might take a couple weeks for it to come out. And as the last chapter mentioned, it would be wise to read the story anyway to learn how events led to this.
With that said, I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter, and reviews are always welcome.