MARVEL: SILVER SUPERMAN OF ASGARD

Grandmaster's subordinates quickly nodded upon seeing his anger.

"Yes, Grandmaster! I will make the arrangements immediately," one of them replied before rushing off.

Once his subordinates had left, Grandmaster's frown turned into a pleased smile.

"Lord Rhodes, be patient. We're preparing the most exciting gladiatorial battle featuring parasite fighters for you. In the meantime, please enjoy some entertainment."

With a clap of his hands, a row of alien dancers in elaborate yet revealing outfits entered the hall, performing an exotic dance for Rhodes and Hela.

---

Meanwhile, Star-Lord and Rocket Raccoon had tracked the escape pod's last known coordinates near Planet Saka.

Through the spaceship's transparent viewing panel, they observed the location where Drax the Destroyer's pod had landed.

Star-Lord frowned. "What's going on? Why isn't Drax here?"

Rocket Raccoon quickly tapped at the ship's control panel, running a rapid analysis of the surroundings. His face darkened.

"Oh no..."

Star-Lord tensed. "What? What is it?"

Rocket sighed. "This is Saka's territory—the dumping ground of the universe. The people here love nothing more than capturing wanderers and throwing them into the arena for brutal, primitive fights against a bunch of weird freaks."

"If that's the case, that big idiot is in serious trouble," Star-Lord muttered.

Having grown up among space pirates, he was all too familiar with Saka's traditions and culture.

"My god, how did that idiot end up in a place like this?"

Rocket scoffed. "Who knows? Only an idiot like him would."

Star-Lord smirked. "Well, at least I'm not that dumb."

Rocket huffed. "Whatever. We still have to go to Saka and check things out."

"You're insane," Star-Lord said. "If those wrestling fanatics catch you, don't expect me to save your furry butt."

Rocket crossed his arms. "Oh please, I'm the one in danger, not you. They'd never throw you into a gladiator fight. At best, they'd make you a court jester. And Groot? They'd probably just use him as a decorative potted plant."

Fuming, Rocket pulled out his small laser gun and pointed it at Star-Lord. "Say another word, and I'll put a few holes in your ass."

"Okay, okay! Enough with the threats," Star-Lord relented. "We need to activate stealth mode. There's gotta be a way to sneak in. Saka's a tough place to infiltrate, but it's not impossible."

Rocket sighed. "Fine. Let's do it."

Determined to save their teammate, the Guardians of the Galaxy pressed on.

Fortunately, Star-Lord's piloting skills allowed them to breach Saka's defenses unnoticed.

Once on the planet, Star-Lord disguised himself with an alien appearance. Rocket and Groot, already looking bizarre by nature, blended in almost perfectly among the strange and diverse alien crowd.

As they moved through the city, they discovered that Drax had already participated in several brutal parasite duels.

Star-Lord watched in exasperation. "That idiot got himself caught."

Rocket, casually picking his teeth with a toothpick, shrugged. "Yeah. And from the looks of it, he's actually enjoying himself. Maybe we should leave him here. He doesn't have much of a brain anyway—this might be the perfect place for him."

Just then, Drax landed another crushing blow against his opponent, roaring triumphantly.

Star-Lord sighed. "We still need to find a way to get him out of there."

Rocket rolled his eyes. "And how exactly do you plan to do that? Have you seen how many guards are around?"

Rocket Raccoon surveyed the arena, narrowing his eyes.

Star-Lord also scanned the surroundings.

The arena was packed with spectators, but what concerned them most were the heavily armed guards stationed around the perimeter. At least a thousand warriors armed with laser weapons lined the outer edges of the coliseum, with even more positioned near the Grandmaster's high balcony.

Additionally, the arena was surrounded by towering structures, and its underground facilities housed even more Grandmaster loyalists. The moment Star-Lord and Rocket made a move, reinforcements would flood the area.

Groot, while strong, wasn't fast enough to be much help in a direct assault.

Even if they somehow fought their way inside, there was no guarantee that Drax would cooperate. He might be too caught up in the thrill of battle to listen to reason.

Star-Lord groaned. "This is going to be a nightmare."

"There are way too many guards," he muttered. "We don't stand a chance in a direct fight."

Rocket Raccoon sighed, looking equally frustrated.

Groot, mimicking Star-Lord's sigh, let out his usual phrase, "I am Groot."

Though he probably didn't understand the situation, Groot seemed to find Star-Lord's exasperation amusing.

Rocket frowned. The Guardians of the Galaxy were running low on options.

If things continued like this, their team might not last much longer.

Suddenly, Rocket grabbed Star-Lord's sleeve and pulled him away from the arena.

Since their identities hadn't been discovered yet, they could still move freely on Planet Saka—for now.

They needed a plan. And fast.

Star-Lord frowned as he watched Rocket Raccoon's unusual behavior.

"Hey, hey, what are you doing?"

"Obviously, I'm figuring out how to save that big idiot," Rocket replied.

"You actually have a plan?" Star-Lord asked, surprised that Rocket had thought of a way to rescue Drax.

Rocket Raccoon didn't answer immediately. After a brief pause, he said, "There's only one way we can break into the arena and get him out."

"And what's that?"

Without responding, Rocket sneaked back to their spaceship, dragging Star-Lord and Groot along.

Once inside, Rocket Raccoon quickly pulled up a holographic interface and started working at an impressive speed.

"We need to develop a tool that neutralizes high-frequency sonic waves," he explained.

Star-Lord raised an eyebrow. "And that means…?"

Rocket scoffed. "High-frequency vibration weapons aren't exactly high-tech. They're as simple as my grandma's electric toothbrush. All we have to do is create a device that cancels out these sound waves—an anti-sonic weapon. That way, the parasites won't be vulnerable to high-frequency sonic attacks anymore."

He continued typing furiously, projecting molecular structures in the air. "I've studied their cellular composition. Their molecular structure is highly unstable because their cells divide and replicate at an astonishing rate. That instability makes them especially susceptible to high-frequency sound waves, which cause their cells to vibrate irregularly, leading to disintegration."

"But," Rocket added, his eyes gleaming with excitement, "if we create a counter-frequency device that stabilizes their cellular structure, they won't just become immune to sonic attacks—they'll actually get stronger. Their cells will become more stable, and…"

He snapped his fingers. "They might even be able to merge with each other without needing a host!"

Star-Lord's mouth dropped open. "You mean… they could fuse into one super parasite?"

"Exactly. A parasite fusion. A monster far stronger than any single parasite."

Star-Lord looked horrified. "That's insane!"

He paced the room. "Even if we pull this off, what happens if the fusion gets out of control? What if it absorbs every parasite in the universe? There are millions of them out there! If they merge into a single entity, we'll have a monster that no one can stop!"

Rocket rolled his eyes. "Relax, I'm not an idiot. I won't let them run wild."

He tapped a few more commands into the interface. "I'll install a time limit and an upper fusion cap into the device. It'll only work for as long as we need it. After we finish the mission, the device will self-destruct. Without the stabilizing frequency, the fusion parasites will lose cohesion and revert to their original state."

Star-Lord let out a relieved sigh. "Okay… that works. As long as we're the only ones who understand how this thing operates, we can prevent total disaster."

"Exactly," Rocket said smugly. "The anti-sonic device will only support a dozen or so parasites—just enough to buy us time against the Grandmaster's forces and rescue Drax."

Then Rocket smirked. "You know my reputation in the universe, right?"

Star-Lord raised an eyebrow. "The cosmic mascot?"

Smack!

Rocket Raccoon slapped Star-Lord across the face.

"Ow! What the hell?!"

"You really are an idiot," Rocket grumbled. "I'm a weapons master, not some dumb mascot!"

Fuming, Rocket immediately got to work constructing the anti-sonic weapon.

After a few hours of intense research and testing, Rocket Raccoon held up a small, palm-sized device with a triumphant grin.

"Hmph! All done. Time to test our new toy."

As seasoned space outlaws, the Guardians of the Galaxy had no trouble sneaking into Saka's energy storage facility and stealing several high-purity energy cubes.

With these, their spaceship had enough power to sustain its stealth mode for multiple flights—an essential advantage for their upcoming escape with Drax.

Using their tracking equipment, they scanned for signs of parasite activity near Saka.

Bingo.

Their scanners picked up signals from a nearby junk planet.

Without hesitation, Star-Lord set course for the location.

The planet, just a short distance from Saka, was a massive cosmic landfill—a dumping ground for discarded technology from various empires across the galaxy.

At a staggering 30,000 kilometers in diameter, the entire planet was covered in towering mountains of garbage, creating an oddly mesmerizing landscape.

Rocket Raccoon peered through the spaceship's transparent viewport.

"Man, this place is a toxic wasteland," he muttered, wrinkling his nose. "But look at all that junk—there's some real treasure buried in there!"

He pointed to a distant hill made entirely of sleek, metallic wreckage.

"Hey, dumbass, check that out. That entire mountain is filled with scrapped supercomputers and outdated weapons tech."

Star-Lord squinted. "So?"

Rocket threw up his hands. "So?! Those machines were just recently decommissioned. They aren't broken, just outdated! If we salvage the chips and sell them to black-market recyclers, we could make a fortune!"

He rubbed his paws together. "Or better yet, I could repurpose them into new weapons. These high-tech idiots throw away perfectly good stuff—what a waste."

His eyes gleamed with excitement. "Just imagine what I could build with all that tech!"