Ultimate Marvel System

Chapter 109: Knowhere

“Selene, are you ready to go?”

Benjamin appeared in Selene’s room and asked, only to be met with an intense glare.

“I was already ready yesterday! What took you so long!?”

Selene shouted with a wronged look.

Benjamin scratched his head in embarrassment.

Well, I didn’t really expect things to happen with Jean last night. There’s that matter with the Phoenix Force too.

Not like I could just say that…

Benjamin cleared his throat and then explained simply.

“Well, some stuff happened and it took longer than expected…”

“Couldn’t you have told me at least!? I’ve been waiting for so long!”

Selene snapped.

Benjamin felt a bit ashamed as it was indeed his fault for forgetting to mention it to her.

“Well, fine. It was indeed my mistake. How about this? I’ll do something you want. Of course, except removing that slave collar or anything that goes against my conscience.”

Hearing that, Selene fell silent.

After a while, she confirmed.

“...Anything?”

“Yeah. As long as it doesn’t go against my conscience or remove that collar.”

“...Really anything?”

“...What is it? What do you want me to do!?”

Benjamin was a bit worried but since he already said it, he could only bite the bullet and do it.

Anyway, as long as it's not killing an innocent person or destroying a continent or something, it should be fine…right?

Selene smirked.

“Hmph! I won’t say it now! Let’s go already! I’m already all packed up!”

“...Fine.”

Benjamin sighed and shook his head.

He then opened a portal to his garage where his modified DeLorean was waiting for them.

It’s been a while since he took the car for a spin. The last time he used it was when he was road-killing Thanos.

It was finally time to take it to the skies and into the universe!

Selene looked at the car and frowned.

She asked Benjamin in confusion.

“We’re taking this…car?”

“Oh, don’t worry. I’ve modified it so we can take it to space.”

“But…can’t you just open a portal to where we’re going?”

Benjamin nodded.

“I’ve contacted Carol and the others, there’s no hurry for now. I want to try and visit other planets. I’ve only been to like, 3 planets after all. And that includes Earth and not counting other universes.”

Besides, where’s the fun in just using portals when you’re traveling in space!?

Selene shrugged.

Anyway, she didn’t care about their objective. She only wanted some excitement as she’s been cooped up for a long time.

“So where are we going first?”

“Knowhere!”

“Nowhere? Huh?”

Selene was confused. She felt like he was making fun of her again.

“No. Knowhere is a place. From what I was told, it’s a place where all kinds of thugs, criminals, outlaws, and outcasts in the universe gather! It sounds fun!”

“...You’re not gonna arrest them all, are you?”

Benjamin shrugged.

“I won’t bother with them if they know what’s good for them. Besides, I know some of the people there are good guys. Just banished or hiding for whatever reason. Of course, if I see some famous wanted criminal there, I’ll catch them!”

Selene was a bit speechless.

Why does it sound like he wanted to catch some rare Pokemons…

“Anyway, let’s go. After touring Knowhere, I want to visit Nidavellir too before we go to Sakaar. If all goes to plan, we should be back to Earth within the week.”

Selene nodded.

After the two got inside the DeLorean, Benjamin opened up the hatch leading outside, switched the DeLorean to flight mode, then took to the skies!

Once they exited Earth’s atmosphere, Selene reveled in the sight of the vast universe for a brief moment.

She then remembered something and asked.

“Wait, you said we only need a week on this trip? I thought you wouldn’t be using portals?”

“I’m not.”

Benjamin entered some coordinates and pushed a big red button.

“I didn’t say I’m not going to use Jump Points.”

After he said that, a hexagonal tear appeared in the space in front of them.

Benjamin didn’t hesitate and drove right into it!

A few minutes later.

The scenery changed and they appeared in the space just outside of Knowhere.

Selene looked like she had a lot to say but sighed and gave up in the end.

In the end, they were still technically using a portal!

“Well…that was certainly a unique feeling.”

Benjamin chuckled.

Entering a Jump Point was different from his magic portals.

When entering his portals, other than the visual disorientation, it felt completely normal. As if just walking through a door.

But Jump Points on the other hand makes one feel as if their insides were stretched thin and reformed in an instant.

It was certainly a weird feeling that’s hard to describe in words.

Selene took a few moments to recollect herself before finally focusing on the sight in front of them.

“Is that…a skull…?”

Benjamin nodded.

“Yeah. That’s the severed head of a Celestial.”

“Celestial?”

“Just think of them as like a race of Gods. Even as a skull, it contains valuable resources so people gathered and made a city here. That’s Knowhere.”

“Interesting.”

Selene’s eyes lit up. She was excited to see what’s in store for them.

Benjamin drove over and found a place to land the DeLorean. After landing, he stored the DeLorean in his Inventory to avoid losing it or getting damaged while they looked around.

When Selene got out of the car, she took a deep breath and wondered.

“How come we can breathe here? Does this skull have an atmosphere? Also, the gravity here is quite similar to Earth?”

The question stumped Benjamin.

“Uhh, gravity is the attraction between two objects where the object with higher mass pulls the lighter object towards it. Considering the size of this head, it’s normal for gravity similar to Earth. As for the atmosphere, it’s probably artificially made?”

Benjamin shrugged.

He didn’t really want to bother with these details. Anyway, he can breathe and walk normally so that’s all that matters.

“Come on. Let’s go see what this place is all about.”

Benjamin nudged Selene and the two began walking the streets of Knowhere while looking around the various aliens around them.

Simply put, Knowhere wasn’t exactly a pleasant sight. It’s dirty, smelly, and full of ruffians.

Just five minutes of walking and there were already ten attempts to pickpocket them!

Benjamin didn’t bother with them much. He knew there weren’t exactly any law officers here so he simply sunk them in the ground, leaving their heads above ground so they don’t suffocate.

While the two were touring and trying some alien street foods, Benjamin was also looking around while using his HUD Contacts to identify the aliens around him.

He hasn’t been using these contacts for a while now since there was no need for it much before. But now that he was in an alien city, Benjamin wanted to at least know the alien race of those around him.

As he looked around while munching on a weird tentacle-like limb on a stick, he saw a figure covered in robes lying in the middle of a narrow alley.

At first, Benjamin just glanced at it and didn’t mind much, thinking it was probably a homeless alien or something.

However, his HUD Contacts revealed that figure's identity and made Benjamin’s eyes wide in surprise.

[Proxima Midnight - Formerly affiliated with the Black Order of Thanos]

Benjamin was surprised to see her here.

He did hear that Proxima escaped the earliest together with Corvus Glaive.

But why is she here?

And why’s she lying on the ground?

Since he’s seen her, it was hard to ignore her so Benjamin walked up to her to take a look.

Sensing a shadow loom over her, Proxima opened her eyes to look up in annoyance.

Is it another scum trying to take advantage of me? Why can’t these pieces of shit leave me alone?

Just as Proxima was about to attack, her eyes widened in shock as she saw the figure who approached her.

It was Benjamin! The human who absolutely trashed Thanos!

“Y-you-!?”

“Hey. You’re Proxima Midnight, right? Do you have a nickname? Your name’s kinda long.”

Benjamin asked, trying to lighten the mood and gloss over the fact that he beat up her former boss.

But seeing her still looking at him like he was a monster, he sighed.

“I’ll just call you Prox then. Anyway, so you were here? Where’s your husband at?”

Hearing Benjamin mention Corvus and sensing no hostile intentions from him, Proxima calmed down somewhat and turned around in frustration.

“If you’re here to kill me, just do it.”

“I’m not gonna kill you. At worst, I’ll capture you and put a collar on you.”

…Isn’t that worse!?

Proxima retorted in her mind but didn’t dare to say it out loud.

Who knows if it angers him and he really enslaves her?

Proxima sighed.

“...If I tell you where Corvus is, will you let me go?”

“Hm? Isn’t he your husband? I heard you even helped him escape.”

Remembering what she did, Proxima gritted her teeth in anger.

“He isn’t my husband anymore. When I helped him escape before, he was angry and cursed at me for being disloyal and a coward. Afterward, he left to rally some forces to try and retake your planet. He should be at Titan now with his new army.”

Benjamin nodded and asked.

“And what about you? Don’t you want revenge?”

Proxima scoffed.

“Do you think I’m an idiot? You have the Infinity Stones. No matter what I do, I won’t be powerful enough to defeat you. I’m different from Corvus and the others who only follow Thanos blindly. I joined because I wanted power. And since he can no longer provide me that power, I left.”

Benjamin nodded.

She certainly looked the type.

There was one thing he was confused about though.

“Speaking of which, why did you marry that Corvus guy? You didn’t seem like the type to fall for a co-worker. Moreso someone weaker than you.”

Corvus Glaive was the weakest of the Black Order as far as Benjamin could tell.

There wasn’t really anything special about him. At least Proxima has superior fighting skills.

Not to mention his face looks worse than Wade Wilson's.

Proxima made a rare melancholic expression as she sighed.

“His strength lies more in his strategic mind and charisma as a leader. It’s something the others don’t have which is why he’s the one leading the Black Order. Also, he was quite persistent when he courted me and I did like him at the beginning even though he sucked at bed. When I told him about it, I wanted him to improve himself since it wasn’t really a problem with size but it seemed to only increase his insecurities and started to become irritable and reckless. What is it with men thinking sex is everything?”

“I know right?”

Benjamin nodded again while Selene only glanced at him with half-closed eyes.

I don’t think you, of all people, have the right to agree to that…

As if agreeing with her, the System also popped up in Benjamin’s vision.

[Host, as the Marvel Manslut, you can’t agree to that.]

What is that supposed to mean!? I don’t always have sex!

[Host, may I remind you that you literally fucked the Phoenix Force just yesterday?]

I…

Benjamin started to speak but trailed off as he didn’t know how to respond to that.

Not knowing the thoughts of the two, Proxima looked up and sighed.

Although Benjamin was her enemy, it felt relieving to rant to someone about her frustrations.

After leaving Corvus, she had been drifting from planet to planet, chased by Thanos’ enemies at every turn, before finally collapsing here.

Coincidentally, she was found by Benjamin here as well.

If it were someone else, Proxima would either attack or escape quickly but knowing how powerful Benjamin was and that she was unable to escape, she relaxed and just let go.

She had given up on running. But in a way, it also let her take a moment to breathe without worry.

Proxima closed her eyes again and said.

“I’ve told you where Corvus is. If you aren’t going to catch or kill me, just leave already.”

Benjamin thought for a moment and answered.

“You said you wanted power, right?”

“So what?”

“If I give you power, can you catch Corvus for me?”

“...Huh?”