[center][h2]THOR AND STAR-LORD[/h2]
[b]IN[/b]
[h2]RUN THROUGH THE JUNGLE[/h2][/center]
[hr]

Peter pushed forward with the jungle, his headphones hanging loosely around his neck, the music coming from them audible only to him, or so he thought. The three unlikely companions had been walking for what felt like days, treking towards some goal only the raccoon had any idea of. Rocket, was his name, which made Quill chuckle. The little creature was named after a Beatles song, and he didn't even know it. Probably didn't even know who the Beatles were, Quill realized. Peter would have to rectify that situation, as long as the psychopathic little trash panda didn't murder him first. Rocket liked to threaten that as much as possible. Still, there was something about the cute little demon that Quill liked. The raccoon was resourceful, witty, and didn't care what the other two thought of him. Peter could respect that.

Hawk, on the other hand, barely said a word an hour. She had only threatened to kill him the one time, but he was pretty sure she'd actually carry it out, unlike the raccoon. For as pretty as she was, she was as cold to boot. Whenever their eyes met, he saw the killer that lurked behind them. They were cool and calculating. Not in a crazy sort of way. She was far too pragmatic for that. No, she knew how to take care of them quickly and quietly. They'd never stand a chance. Quill was on guard, but he was pretty sure it wouldn't matter in the end if she deceded to do something to him.

"So where the hell are we going again?" Peter said after a few more steps. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't used to being his own leader. Following others just was not his style. But Rocket knew this planet better than he did, so he followed.

"We're going towards Mongul's stronghold," Rocket explained. "I knocked out one of that big yellow idiot's drones and hacked into its databanks. It told me where I could find him, so that's where we're going. Now turn that music off before you bring every blasted gladiator on this planet down on our heads."

"You could hear that?" Quill was amazed.

"Yea, basically everyone who isn't a humy could," Rocket laughed to himself. "Idiot."

Quill shook his head and turned off his Walkman.

"How'd you end up here?" he asked his newest traveling partner. "We ended up here because Paul McCartney's Wings here decided to try and kill us."

"What part of 'be quiet' don't you understand?" Hawk snapped back.

"Oh come on," Peter rolled his eyes. "You could probably kill anyone who tried to kill us."

"I should kill you," she sneered.

"Oh do it then, and save me from having to deal with your surly ass," Peter stuck his tongue out at her.

"Heh," Rocket snorted. "You're both idiots."

They continued in silence for a few more clicks. Relative silence, of course. The jungles of Warworld teamed with life. Bugs the size of Peter's hand fluttered around the group, their irridescent purple wings constrasting beautifully against the silver of their bodies. He had seen teal lizards with webbing between their legs gliding from tree to tree. Sometimes the sound of something bigger deeper in the brush. So far whatever that was had kept its distance 

"My partner and I were running from some bounty hunters like our winged friend here," Rocket broke the silence, explaining how he came to Warworld. "We made a jump, and ended up here. Split our friggin' ship in half. He got thrown out. Been looking for him for a little over a month now."

"Damn, I'm sorry," Quill shook his head. "My...friend got thrown from our wreck, too."

"Losing me a ton of money in the process," Hawk added.

"You think you friend is at Mongul's fortress, or whatever he has?" Quill ignored her.

"Dunno," Rocket shrugged. "But I figure if I kill that dumbass it'll be a lot easier to find Groot."

"Cut the head off the snake," Hawk considered the plan. "Not a terrible idea."

"Oh sure, great idea. Marching into the unquestioned and all-powerful ruler of a planet's hideout and try to kill him," Quill shook his head. "I'm sure no one ever thought of that. Great plan. We're definitely not gonna get killed."

"Would you relax? This is my plan," Rocket assured him. "There's no way anything is gonna go wrong."

[center]**********[/center]

"I am Groot."

"Yes, thank you, Tree," Thor grumbled, wondering why he was stuck with walking with the talking house plant at the back of the column. Still, he was better than some others Thor had marched with. He certainly didn't smell as bad as an Asgardian after a few days out in the field. "Eloquent as always."

"I am Groot."

Before long, their small band came to a clearing of the jungle on the side of a cliff. From the location, Thor could see the large, walled city of Mongul. The white walls and buildings of the city looked like they were carved from the ivory of some gigantic beast. Most were uneven and awkward looking, no doubt made for the slaves and workers that kept Mongul's empire running. Other than that, the two buildings that stood out were two golden ones that sat on top of the hill that overlooked the entire city. The larger one was Mongul's palace. That much was obvious. Its opulence outmatched anything around it. It was like an Asgardian palace that was plopped down in a slum. 

But the building next to it was what drew Thor's attention. It too was gilded, shining in the morning sunlight. It looked to be some sort of casino, if Thor had to guess. But more importantly he could see the passage of ships to and from a landing pad on the roof.

"So space travel is possible on the planet," Thor smiled broadly as he joined Heimdall on the cliff's edge. "All we have to do is get into the city."

"Yea, sure. No problem," Korg agreed. "Just have to get past Mongul's death squads. And Draaga. And Mongul. Should be a piece of cake, man."

Miek chatted int agreement, and Groot agreed as he always did. At least he seemed to agree.

"No, guys, that was, like, sarcasm, you know," Korg waved the two off. "We are surely gonna perish."

"No one's going to be perishing today," Heimdall grunted. "At least no one in our group."

"Oh well that makes me feel loads better," Korg grunted, and Thor could not tell if he was being serious.

They were a motley crew, that much was certain. He didn't know how good they'd be in a fight, but Heimdall claimed they were fiercer than they appeared. The tree especially was a force to be reckoned with. Thor had heard talk in the past of tree spirits that could tear gods limb from limb. He didn't know if Groot was one of said spirits, but if he was as formidable as his friend had said, Thor figured he would have to be.

"We're getting into that city," Heimdall looked at Thor. "We know Mongul's disrupting field doesn't cover the space above his city. We get in there, we get off this rock."

"What's the plan of attack?" Thor's eyebrow raised at the other Asgardian. 

"Simple," he nodded towards the God of Thunder, "you're gonna walk up to the front door and challenge Mongul's champion. The rest of us will sneak into the city and cause a ruckus. After you kill Draaga you'll meet us in the city and we'll get out of here."

"Why is the plan always sending me into the face of certain doom?" Thor sighed.

"Because you're the best fighter," Heimdall shrugged. "Shoulda thought of that before you won all those wars for Asgard."

"I am Groot," the tree patted Thor on the shoulder.

Thor just grumbled to himself.

[center]**********[/center]

Quill and his companions sneaked quietly along the outer wall of Mongul's city, searching for god knew what. Rocket still hadn't really told either of the others how they were actually going to get into the city. He seemed sure he could do it, of course. Then again, Rocket was sure that he could always do whatever he said. Quill figured Rocket would say he could breath in space whenever he wanted to. The little guy was seriously full of himself.

"Ah, here we are," the raccoon presented a sewer grate cover, a large, cartoonish smile painted on his face. A thick, brown-grey sludge flowed slowly from the bottom three inches of the almost four-foot grate. The smell that came off of it was almost enough to knock Quill out right there.

"Oh you have got to be kidding me," Quill grumbled. "This was your plan? Go through the sewers? Who knows what crazy stuff is living down there!?"

"For once I actually agree with this idiot," Hawk shook her head at Rocket.

"Listen," Rocket explained, "we need to get into that city. This is the only way to do that. It smells. So what. Deal with it. You wanna die on this rock? I didn't think so. Now, let's go walk through some shit. Literally."

"I just met you,"  Quill sighed angrily, "but man do I hate you."

[center]**********[/center]

Thor's boots crunched against the dried, cracked land in front of the gate of Mongul's city. Whatever the despot had done in this area of the planet, it was clear that the rains that fell elsewhere in the jungle of the planet didn't touch this area. Maybe Mongul believed his deified head should never be touched by anything other than sunshine. 

Thor shifted uneasily as he approached the gate. He had seen Draaga fight on the clips every night. He was good. Ferocious, fast, and strong, he was the kind of warrior Thor had often looked forward to fighting in the past. But now things were different. He didn't have Mjolnir. He didn't have the powers the hammer granted him. Without them would he be able to defeat the planet's champion?

Now was when he would find out.

"My name is Thor! Son of Odin! The rightful king of Asgard!" Thor called out to the gate. It was Heimdall's idea. He said that telling the world who he really was would draw Draaga out for sure. Mongul wouldn't resist claiming the price on Thor's head. "I come to challenge Draaga, champion of Warworld, to single combat!"

Thor smiled as he finished the short proclamation. It was something he had done countless times before. Once, he called out the leader of the Frost Giants in order to secure an end to a long, bloody conflict. He could barely stand at the time, his strength sapped by months of fighting. Yet he still managed to fell the Frost Giant after three hours of back and forth brawling.

The doors of the city creaked open slowly, and from them emerged Draaga. But he wasn't dressed as he was in the video from before. No, now he was clad in golden, shimmering armor. Mongul was going to make a show of this. Probably send the video personally to the person who had destroyed Asgard.

As Draaga approached, Thor noticed what he held in his hands, and the Asgardian's blood began to boil. The glittering blade of the battle ax shone brilliantly in the sunlight that poked through the clouds above. Thor knew the curve of its handle and blade well. He had used that ax for centuries. It was his first great Dwarven weapon, Jarnbjorn, being wielded by nothing more than a common thug. Whoever had raided the cache had given this gift to Mongul, and now Mongul hoped to kill Thor with his own weapon.

The trepidation that had filled him moments before washed away in rage.

"Mongul accepts your challenge," Draaga sneered and charged at Thor.