Roughly an hour has passed since the incident at the restaurant and both Marr and ICON managed to locate the address given to them by Sarah. It led them to a large complex near the edge of the town. In a hurry to get off the streets, the two of them approached the front door and ICON gently knocked. It took a few minutes for someone to respond and as the door opened, an elderly woman appeared before them. "Can I help you?", the woman asked. "Greetings." ICON said in an enthusiastic tone, "I am 1K-0N, human cyborg relations and this is my master...". Before the droid could finish, the woman raised a hand to her ear and started fiddling with her hearing aid. "Good Lord, I can never get the volume right on this thing. I'm sorry dear, what did you say?"
"Oh." ICON responded, "Greetings. I am...". Before the droid repeated itself, Marr stepped forward to take over the introduction. "What my friend said is that I am Javif Marr." He said as he lowered his hood. "My friend and I were sent by I believe an acquaintance of yours. Sarah? From the restaurant?". Suddenly the elderly woman's expression brightened up. "Oh, you're the ones?", She stepped back from the doorway and gestured for them to enter. "Yes, Sarah called ahead about the two of you. Please come in." Accepting her invitation, the pair entered through the door and found themselves being led into a very spacious foyer.
"That was a very kind thing you boys did for Sarah." Their host said, "Poor girl, the things she has to put up with. She mentioned that you both needed a place to stay?"
"Yes, My friend and I are new to the area and need to find shelter." The Jedi responded. She continued to lead them towards a flight of stairs, which they began to ascend. "Well, you are more than welcome to stay here." She responded, "You can call me Julia my dears." They continued to climb up until they eventually reached their floor. As their group made their way down a hallway, they passed several more occupants; ranging from shabby-looking men, small families and even unaccompanied younglings. "I'm curious." Marr pondered, "What kind of establishment is it you run?"
"This place exists to provide for the less fortunate of Vista Verde," explained Julia. "Vagabonds with nowhere to go, families evicted from their homes, victims of financial issues, runaways. You never know when hard times are around the corner. So if you've unfortunately found yourself on the streets, instead of sleeping in your car, you are welcome here."
"You certainly seem to have enough space." The Jedi remarked. "Oh, this place used to be the Grande Hotel," She continued. "My husband and I ran it years ago. But after he passed on, I wanted to do something more to help people. So I made some renovations." She stopped in front of a room at the end of the hall and unlocked it, showing her new guests inside. The room was medium-sized but very spacious. This used to be a fancier room, judging by the decor. However, it appears to have been stripped back to its bare basics, with only one double bed, and a small desk with a lamp.
"I hope you don't mind sharing?"
Later in the evening, back at Herb's diner, the staff are getting ready for the last quiet hour before closing. Sarah is mopping up the floor while Herb is going through his end-of-day routine by cooking up the last meals for his "favourite" regulars in time for their arrival. After a few minutes, the door swings open and right on cue; the Hulk and his agents of S.M.A.S.H. enter the diner and take seats at their usual booth. Judging by the state of these local heroes, they just got back from battling with another supervillain. A-Bomb slumps down in the booth exhausted, She-Hulk is still dusting off her uniform while both Red Hulk and Skarr join them as their leader Hulk steps up towards the counter.
"Hey, Herb," Hulk called towards the kitchen. "Hope you got our usual ready? It's been quite a day". Herb looked out of his kitchen hatch, "Won't be long, have a seat and I'll be right with you." Hulk returned to his teammates and took his place at the booth. As the team began discussing and boasting about their latest exploit, the door to the diner opened again and in walked the last two heroes they expected to see. "Carol, Jessica..." Hulk called out to them, "Been wondering if I'd be seeing you around."
The two S.W.O.R.D. Agents, now dawning their superhero attire, cross the diner to approach the Hulks. "Woah, you lot look like you've been through the wars." Captain Marvel commented, "So who was it this time?" Hulk let out an exhausting yawn before responding. "Who else? The Leader broke into a S.H.I.E.L.D. Storage facility and managed to steal a bunch of classified tech. We would of stopped him if it wasn't for Abomination and his agents of C.R.A.S.H."
"And if it wasn't for Red and Skarr's bickering, maybe we wouldn't have gotten our butts handed to us." She-Hulk snapped towards the pair of them. "Hey, don't you go blaming me, Shulky." Red Hulk fired back. "It was Jones here that wasn't paying attention in the middle of a fight." He stared daggers at A-Bomb while he's trying to fix his camera drone. "Hey, this is my last camera." A-Bomb defended, "I wasn't gonna let those meatheads wreck it."
Spider-Woman walked up behind A-Bomb and leaned over to get a closer look at his drone. "So this is what you use to film your little web series?" You know this looks very similar to our own surveillance drones." She looks towards A-Bomb and gives him a suggestive smirk, making him instantly blush. "And where exactly did you get ahold of these?" The young Hulk started to babble quietly while sweating, only to receive a kick under the table from She-Hulk. "Down boy." She barked out before addressing Spider-Women. "You should put those pheromones of yours away Jess, it's not fair on the kid." The S.W.O.R.D agent straightened up and walked back over to her partner, while also receiving some lustful stares from Red Hulk and Skarr. "You're no fun, Jen."
"Speaking of drones." Hulk interrupted, "Care to explain why you guys got dozens of those things buzzing around the town." Captain Marvel easily picked up on the disapproving tone in Hulks voice. "Just doing our job, big guy." She responded back, "We're tracking an alien fugitive, his ship was last seen nearby, so we're just following procedure." As the heroes chat amongst themselves, both Herb and the waitress Sarah came over with the Smashers food order and began setting their plates down on the table.
"Really, you had him up against a wall?" Hulk said after hearing the events of the alien's arrival. "He was giving us this garbage story and I was convinced he was a Skrull infiltrator." She defended herself while receiving judging stares from the rest of the Hulk. At that point, she threw up her hands in defeat. "Alright, I overreacted. I admit it." She picked up the cup of coffee that Herb poured her and took a sip. "So you really think the Skulls would attempt another infiltration of Earth again?" She-Hulk asked. "It's not just them," Spider-Women responded. "We've been getting a lot of reports of a lot of tension between the three major powers right now; The Kree have been making some moves in the neutral zone. The new Skrull Empress has been making statements about "restoring the old Empire" and there are some concerning rumblings within the Shi'ar."
"What sort of rumblings?" Red Hulk inquired. "There's concerns of a coup against Empress Lilandra, some new radical group." Captain Marvel explained. "If that happens, then Earth's security would come into question." The group fell silent for a moment. "But that's only the worst-case scenario." Captain Marvel reassured them.
After making themselves comfortable, the Jedi meditated in the middle of the room, while Icon took the time to examine his new body. "I'm still not sure if i'll ever become used to this new frame, master." the droid expressed. "There are functions installed that my programming is not fully compatible with." The Jedi didn't move from his meditated position but responded all the same. "Then you'll have to look inward and rediscover yourself, my friend." Icon used his hologram ability to change his form a few times before settling on a female Mirialan. "But master, I was programmed for etiquette, not play-acting." He expressed in frustration. However seeing the Jedi continuing to meditate, made Icon consider his advice. The droid returned to his original form and began examining his new frame more closely.
After a few minutes, he discovered what he assumed were compartments hidden within his chassis. It took him only a few minutes to find the right subroutine to activate them. When he did so, the compartments opened and a silver cylinder popped out. Not realising it was a lightsaber, the droid activated by mistake as he was removing from his frame, its green blade nearly slicing him in half as he began to flourish it around uncontrollably. Marr raised himself back onto his feet and hurried over to the droid, narrowly avoiding the blade as he grabbed hold of Icon's sabre hand and swiftly deactivated the sabre.
"Perhaps It is best I help you with this task," Marr said as he placed the weapon back into Icon's compartment. The droid looked towards his master. "Master, what exactly are our long-term plans?" Marr sat on the nearby bed before he responded. "First we must acquire the parts we need for the ship. However, that may take a while. Considering the technological level of this world." He then laid down on his back, preparing to rest. "Then we find a way to return home."
"If you don't mind me asking master," the droid said curiously. "The entire point of the Outbound Flight was to explore new galaxies. If your intention is to return to our own galaxy, then why did you join the project in the first place?" Marr didn't seem to stir from his position until he merely responded under his breath. "A story for another time, for now, we should rest."