"Depth: seven kilometers."
Eunice's calm, synthesized voice echoed through the small submarine. Through the viewport, the sub's powerful external lights cut through the crushing darkness, illuminating a corner of a colossal, sunken temple.
"Incredible," Felicia whispered, her face pressed close to the reinforced glass. Most of the ancient relics on Morag were primitive, but this temple was a testament to a once-glorious civilization, now drowned by time. The planet's three-hundred-year tidal cycle remained a profound mystery. Where did an ocean thousands of kilometers deep even go?
"Maybe it flows into subterranean caverns," Ben mused, though he wasn't sure either. Each planet had its own cosmic eccentricities. Compared to a pocket dimension like Asgard, the wonders of Morag were hardly unusual.
He expertly maneuvered the submersible onto a wide, flat platform outside the temple entrance. "Ready?"
Felicia simply tapped the bracelet on her wrist. In a liquid shimmer, the black-and-white nano-suit flowed over her body, encasing her in the sleek armor of the Black Cat. A moment later, they both exited the craft, their forms suspended in the immense pressure of the deep sea.
Ben swam to the temple wall, extracting a small, disk-shaped charge from his own nano-suit and planting it against the ancient stone. After a dull thump and a brief flash of fire, a massive bubble of superheated gas erupted outwards, the shockwave momentarily blasting the surrounding seawater away. A clean, gaping hole now marred the temple face.
He gave Felicia a nod, and they swam inside together.
The breach, however, created a violent pressure differential. A colossal torrent of ocean water rushed into the temple, creating a powerful, swirling current that threatened to tear them apart. Ben activated the bio-static charge in his suit, his hands and feet clinging firmly to the stone wall.
Felicia wasn't so lucky. She dug her claws into the wall, but the anti-metal edges were too sharp, slicing through the ancient stone like it was tofu. She found no purchase. The turbulent whirlpool caught her, sweeping her instantly into the darkness!
Without a second's hesitation, Ben fired a line of webbing after her. But the current was too violent, twisting the strand of spider-silk and throwing it off course. Felicia was about to be lost to the abyss.
Ben slapped the Omnitrix hard. A flash of emerald light, and his form twisted and warped. The next moment, a black-and-white monster with a massive, tooth-filled maw tore through the sea, diving into the darkness like a predator returning to its hunting grounds.
It was the long-unseen Ripjaws.
On a planet almost entirely submerged in water, he was home. The crushing current was no longer an obstacle; it was a tailwind, propelling him forward. The glowing lure on his forehead cut through the gloom like a searchlight, his eyes instantly adjusting to the dark. He swung his powerful black tail, his webbed hands slicing through the water, and navigated the narrow, obstacle-strewn passage with preternatural grace.
In a matter of seconds, he caught up to Felicia. She reacted quickly, the vibranium suit having absorbed much of the initial impact. She retracted her claws, grabbed his arm, and then wrapped her legs around his waist like an octopus, holding on for dear life.
Breathing a sigh of relief inside her helmet, she whispered into his ear, "I knew you'd save me. Besides… cats have always loved dried fish."
"Just focus," Ben's voice, now a gurgling growl, came back. "Pull up the temple map. The original atmosphere should be sealed in deeper sections. We need to find one before the whole place floods." He shifted uncomfortably. "And stop pressing your claws into my gills. I can't breathe."
Felicia adjusted her posture, then playfully fiddled with the glowing lure on his head like a kitten batting at a toy before activating the map on her wrist. "Left! Go left!"
Ben executed a sharp turn, narrowly avoiding a collision with a stone pillar.
"Now down… then right… wait! Something's catching up to us!" she shouted, her voice laced with alarm. On her display, countless tiny dots of light were swarming toward their position.
She didn't need to tell him. Ripjaws's sense of smell, more sensitive than any shark's, had already detected the thousands of "pursuers" behind them. Felicia looked back, but saw only impenetrable darkness. All she could hear was a faint, yet dense, clicking sound, like thousands of tiny mouths snapping open and shut.
Ben, however, could see them clearly. Strange, twenty-centimeter-long bodies, mostly consisting of a head filled with disproportionately large teeth. They were like living saw blades.
"Alien piranhas," Ben noted, his tone more curious than concerned. "Cool. I should take a few back for the lobby at Primus. What do you think?"
"Whatever you want!" Felicia said, speechless. She was beginning to think he wasn't kidding about the dried fish.
"Then it's settled. I'll invite you and your parents over for lemon-zested alien fish sometime." With that, he simply stopped, hovering in the turbulent water and turning to face the oncoming swarm.
Felicia was stunned. "You can cook?"
"Nope. But I can send Peter to Gwen's house to learn her dad's recipe."
He dove directly into the school of fish. Instantly, they were swarmed, a living vortex of teeth and hunger. Felicia's vibranium suit protected her completely, the bites of the piranhas doing nothing but charge her kinetic energy reserves. If these things could tear through vibranium, they'd be a bigger threat than Thanos.
Ben, for his part, revealed his true nature. Ripjaws lived up to his name. With the exception of a few special alloys, there was nothing he couldn't bite through. For the swarm of piranhas, it was like a school of minnows trying to devour a great white shark. Within moments, the water was thick with blood, the dark clouds carried deeper into the ruins by the current.
"Wow, the meat's delicious," Ripjaws commented, having sampled one. The jaw muscles on these things made for some firm, tasty flesh. Of course, he only tasted it; he wasn't about to risk an upset stomach from uncooked alien.
Felicia joined in the slaughter, her suit absorbing more and more energy with every bite and impact from the swarm. The stored power was still far from the suit's upper limit, but thanks to Ben's design, she could release it at any time.
"Ben, get clear of me!" she warned.
"Don't worry about it. My suit is nanotech-vibranium, too," he said nonchalantly. It was one of the first modifications he had ever made to the Omnitrix, allowing him to upgrade the default material of his alien forms' attire. It was a significant improvement for some of the less durable forms, ensuring his classic heroes remained viable as his enemies grew stronger.
Hearing this, Felicia no longer had any concerns. With a thought, she unleashed the energy stored in her suit.
BOOM!
A sphere of violet light erupted outwards. The surrounding seawater was instantly vaporized, creating a brief, perfect vacuum. The piranhas caught in the blast exploded like popcorn, while those further away were stunned unconscious, their white bellies turning up as they floated to the ceiling.
"Alright, let's go," Ben said.
After dealing with the pests, they pressed on. Ben made a mental note to come back with the ship later to catch a few specimens. He even entertained the thought of turning Morag into a personal breeding farm, or better yet, finding a way to create a true planet Primus to house a living codex of the universe's genetic data. His preferred target for such a project was Ego, Star-Lord's living planet father. The entity had spread his seeds across countless worlds; the genetic library he possessed must be immense. The only problem was Ego's own consciousness. If that could be erased, it would be perfect. He decided he would definitely discuss this "loving father, filial son" plan with Star-Lord when they eventually met.
But for now, the priority was Thanos. Following the route Eunice provided, they finally found a section of the temple that was still dry.
"Air index is normal. Atmosphere is breathable," Eunice's voice chirped in Felicia's ear.
Felicia retracted her helmet, letting her long, silver hair fall around her shoulders. The suit's internal systems instantly evaporated every drop of moisture. "Much better," she said, stretching her limbs.
Ben changed back to his human form just as a communication request came through. It was Bucky.
"Sheriff, we've got company," the Winter Soldier's voice was grim. "A large number of unidentified spacecraft have appeared in orbit." On their wrist-devices, an image of the Kree fleet appeared. "Looks like they're here."
As he spoke, he was already piloting their ship deeper into the abyssal trenches, using the complex terrain of the seabed to hide.
"Roger that, Bucky. Stay safe and stay hidden," Steve's voice came over the channel first.
Ben gave a simple confirmation, but it was Peter's voice that came through next, frantic and confused.
"The Kree are just arriving now?" he shouted from his own location. "Then who the hell is this guy I just knocked out?!"
Inside another temple miles away, Peter was staring down at a man in a red leather jacket, lying face down on the floor with his butt in the air. More than ten minutes ago, Peter had found an entrance and, after wandering the halls, had been drawn by the sound of terrible singing. He'd found this stranger holding a small, lizard-like creature, using it as a microphone as he danced around, occasionally kicking at other scurrying lizards. Venom had immediately insisted the man was a Kree agent and goaded Peter into attacking. Influenced by the symbiote, Peter had used more force than necessary and, with a single slap, had knocked the man out cold.
Star-Lord: Ugh… my jaw…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Support me at [email protected]/goldengaruda and check out more early access chapter of this fanfic or more early access chapter of my other fanfic translation.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~