64 Chapter 63: The Galaxy At Large

[September 9th, 2004]

(Roberto: POV)

Inside of my personal lab within the Command Center I held a Snickers bar in my left hand, and ate it, while I looked over a 3-D holographic model being projected in the center of my lab.

The holographic model in question is a star chart I managed to acquire from the data banks from one of the Psions ships the team I led to Australia captured over two months ago.

Ships which I have barely stopped examining since my group and I got our hands on them.

One because they are alien ships, which is just plain cool.

And two, I am working to reverse engineer the technology of the ships so that it can be used for the benefit of me, my friends, and the people of Earth.

In that order.

Besides, it's not like I've had anything better to do.

All of my other projects and plans are either on half or at very delicate steps of progression.

Like the thing with Magneto.

Once again that old man has gone radio silent.

Which I sincerely hope doesn't mean he is rejecting the deal I told Emma to offer him.

Because if that is the case then...this world will find itself without good old Erik.

Since I refuse to let any bullshit he might create stand in the way of my goals.

Same with Charles.

You know it's funny. Those two are pretty much the same, but they refuse to admit it.

Then again when you've been married as long as those two have they're bound to be subjects neither want to acknowledge.

Well I'm not a marriage counselor or anything so for now I'll let those two handle their problems on their own.

But once again, if either get in my way I'll crush them.

On another note Starfire has been adjusting well to Earth.

Oh and speaking on that I've done my research and this world isn't a crossover with DC.

At least where Earth is concerned.

Since the moment I had some time after Starfire's arrival I ran a thurough and comprehensive search for anything and everything DC related that might be on Earth.

I even used magic fo aid me in that search.

All of the results coming up zero.

So once that was done I decided to run some names by Starfire and question her to find out exactly why she is in a Marvel universe when she is a DC character.

When I did this the orange-skinned girl shared her life story with me.

Which isn't much different than her DC origin.

She was born a princess on the planet Tamaran, in the Vega star system hundreds of light years from Earth.

Her life was good and normal.

Then one day everything.

Out of nowhere three of the most aggressive races that called the Vega star system home formed an alliance and began to conquer that part of space.

The three races involved in the alliance being the Citadelians, the Psions, and finally the Gordanians.

Who all seem to be just as bad as their DC counterparts from what Starfire has told me, and from my own reviewing of the data from the recovered Psions ships.

But back to what I was saying.

Unprepared for the tri-alliance the rest of the Vega star system began falling to it.

Until eventually even Tamaran was conquered.

When this happened Starfire's father, king Myand'r was killed.

Since unlike his DC counterpart he refuses to give into the tri-alliance and was seen as top big a threat.

So his life was ended.

This in turn led to Starfire and her elder sister Komand'r, also known as Blackfire for those uncultured ones, being captured by the Psions.

Who then began to perform heinous experiments on the pair.

But together they endured, until eventually the sisters found a chance to escape.

Since apparently the version of Blackfire in this universe is vastly different than her DC counterpart.

Here she never developed that illness and thus gained all the abilities Tamaraean's are naturally born with. Thus she has no reason to betray her family and so she and Starfire developed a good and healthy sisterly bond.

Anyway.

When the two princess sisters finally made their jailbreak they decided to take separate ships to increase their odds of escape.

Since chasing after two different targets is much more difficult than chasing after one.

Good thinking on the sisters part if you ask me.

So in the end while trying to escape Starfire's ship took some damage which interfered with her crafts navigation system.

Thus she ended up here on Earth and not her original destination.

So that is Starfire's story.

Oh and it seems for whatever reason only that aspect of DC exists here.

Since when I asked Starfire about Green Lanterns, Mongul, New Gods, Darkseid, and Kryptonians, she looked at me like I was crazy. Saying she has never heard of any of those things before.

This, combined with a subtle scan of her mind using telepathy, and my investigation into the data of the Psions ships told me Starfire was telling me the truth.

Which made me breathe a sigh of relief.

Though not for long considering the threat that tri-alliance might one day pose to Earth.

Especially since Starfire is currently residing here.

Oh and that does make me wonder, since the Vega star system exists her does that mean the Omega Men do as well?

Well I can answer those questions when I head out into space myself in the future.

Which I will be doing.

Not only to collect some Infinity Stones, but also to help Earth safely enter the Galactic stage.

Since we need to sooner rather than later.

Continuing to eat my Snickers I took note of the various territories designated on the star chart.

I saw the Nova Empire.

The Kree Empire.

The Vega Star System itself.

The map even displayed the territories of both Galactus and Thanos.

Which I don't know if I should be happy or scared at seeing.

Finally the last major interstellar territory displayed on the map was that of the Shi'ar Empire.

Who I had already suspected might exist in this version of the MCU, but this star chart confirms it.

That means in addition to that purple-skinnned ballchinian and the planet eater Earth might also become the target of those bird-like predators. Whose Imperial Guard is supposed to be Marvels version of DC Legion of Superheroes.

Which is led by the Marvel version of Mon-El.

The comic book version. Not that nerfed version that appeared in the Supergirl television show.

As I processed this I couldn't help but consider how much more work this puts on my plate.

But on the other hand I've always been a fan of Gladiator.

Since there aren't many guys who can rock a Mohawk like he does.

So I guess this new information is both a win and a loss.

Which I will happily take.

Finishing my Snickers I got back to reviewing the information from the Psion ships in earnest.

While also planning a trip to the X-mansion.

Just so I can check to see if "she" exists in this world or not given the Shi'ar and Charles alien sugar momma Lilanndra do.

Because if "she" does exist then I'll handle her.

Since I can't trust Charles to do it.

After all, "she" will likely want him dead given the action he took against her.

But considering Charles' track record with his kids I'm not surprised.

Looks like I have something fun to do now.

Excellent.

As I thought this I began preparing for my next mission.