(Marvel) Chapter 126: Unexpected Partner

"Let me go!"

The kid flailed his arms and legs as he hung from Daniel's grip.

"Sure thing!"

Daniel chuckled, instantly flying up to an altitude of ten thousand meters.

"I'm dropping you now!" Daniel's voice was filled with pure amusement.

Looking down at the microscopic trees below, the kid almost pissed his pants and said sheepishly, "Uh, never mind!"

"You sure?" Daniel asked.

"Yes!" The kid nodded frantically.

Are you kidding? They were ten thousand meters in the air. If he let go, wouldn't he turn into a puddle of meat paste upon hitting the ground?

"But I already promised you, and I'm a man of my word!"

The moment Daniel finished speaking, he loosened his grip.

"Ahhhh!!!"

The kid plummeted straight down, but just as his face was about to make contact with the ground, Daniel caught him.

"Whew... whew..."

Even after being back on the ground for two full minutes, the kid couldn't stop panting heavily. That scared the living daylights out of him!

He glanced at the man who was casually munching on meat off to the side, his heart filled with endless regret.

'I finally managed to escape from those thieves' gang, only to fall straight into the hands of a total psycho! I want to cry!'

He couldn't resist the urge to slap himself.

'Why did I have to try and rob this guy's food? I'm so stupid, seriously!'

The more he thought about it, the worse he felt, and the more he regretted it.

Slap!

He actually gave himself a hard slap across the face.

Daniel was eating happily when he heard the sound, so he looked at the kid with a strange expression.

"Why are you slapping yourself?"

"My face was itchy! Just itchy!" the kid explained quickly.

Staring at the very obvious handprint on the kid's cheek, Daniel muttered, "Are you an idiot?"

His blunt words made the kid's face burn with anger.

'I really want to punch him!' the kid thought to himself.

"I am not an idiot!" the kid shot back crossly.

"Good to hear!"

Having finished the conversation, Daniel went right back to tearing into the meat.

"Mm, tastes pretty good!" He even offered a critique as he ate.

Grumble.

The sound of a hungry stomach echoed through the silence.

"You want a bite?" Daniel looked up and asked.

The kid nodded in pleasant surprise.

"Then keep wanting!" Daniel's tone was incredibly petty. He was currently so bored that he resorted to bullying a child.

"Whew..."

The kid clenched his fists and took a deep breath, then, hiding his hands behind his back, he flipped Daniel off with his middle finger.

"Delicious!"

The kid endured it for another half an hour before Daniel finally finished the massive hind leg that was bigger than a grown man.

'Greedy bastard!' the kid yelled in his mind.

"Hey, kid, what's your name?" Daniel asked after finishing his meal.

"I'm not a kid, I'm already sixteen!" the kid yelled.

Daniel sized him up a few times.

"I really can't tell it."

"I'm just... a late bloomer!"

"Is that so? When I was your age, I had already slept with dozens of women!" Daniel bragged.

"Me too!"

"Oh really?" Daniel looked entirely unconvinced.

"I've secretly slept with dozens of female androids!" the kid said, his face flushing bright red.

"No wonder you're stunted!" Daniel cast a judging look at the kid.

"Sleeping with androids... you freak!"

"You! Everyone out there does it!"

Furious, the kid crossed his arms and shut his mouth, refusing to speak further.

"You still haven't answered me. What's your name?" Daniel asked.

"Peter Quill."

"What was that?"

"Peter Quill!"

"Do you like listening to music?" Daniel asked.

Peter nodded.

"Do you like having spontaneous dance-offs?"

Peter continued to nod.

"You're an Earthling, and you were brought into space by Yondu, right?" Daniel pressed further.

"How do you know that?" Peter asked in complete bewilderment.

'Well, there it is, solid proof. I just picked up a young Star-Lord,' Daniel thought to himself.

He stared closely at Quill's face. He hadn't noticed it earlier, but looking at him now, he really did resemble that dance-off idiot from the future.

Daniel felt that Quill was someone even more ridiculous than he was.

"Where's your cassette Walkman? Hand it over," Daniel said, reaching his hand out toward Quill.

Quill reluctantly pulled out his Walkman.

"Don't break it!" he cautioned.

Daniel nodded, plugged in the headphones, and started listening to the music.

"Good taste," Daniel remarked after listening for a moment.

"Of course it is! This is the greatest music in the entire universe!" Quill said proudly.

"Alright, go roast some more meat!"

Daniel lay down on the grass and gave Quill a gentle nudge with his foot. Quill walked toward the massive beast's carcass, turning his head back with every step.

"Don't break it!" he repeated.

"Got it!" Daniel waved his hand dismissively and began nodding his head to the rhythm.

He found Quill's taste to be quite unique; it really made a person want to bust a move.

And so, the Star-Lord became Daniel's personal barbecue chef.

He spent over three hours roasting meat, and half of the massive beast, several tons of meat, ended up entirely in Daniel's stomach.

"Here!" Quill handed Daniel the final piece of roasted meat.

He was exhausted, starving, and incredibly weak.

"You eat it. I'm full, and now it's time for a nap!"

Daniel stretched lazily.

"Don't even think about running away. You'll regret it."

With that final warning, Daniel closed his eyes.

"I'm alive again!" Quill said, patting his stomach after eating a massive chunk of meat.

Now that he was full, he looked over at the fast-asleep Daniel just a few meters away, debating whether or not he should escape.

His heart desperately wanted to leave right away, but remembering what this man was capable of made his legs turn to jelly.

Yawn.

"I'm so tired... I should just sleep. I'll escape after I've rested up."

Quill muttered to himself, and soon, he fell asleep as well.

The next day.

"Hey, wake up. We're leaving!"

Quill was fast asleep when Daniel shook him awake.

"Huh?"

He was still half-dazed.

Daniel shot a precise blast of heat vision, scorching the ground right in front of Quill's nose. Feeling the sudden burst of heat right against his face, Quill instantly bolted upright.

"Let's go."

Daniel gestured for him to follow.

"Where to?" Quill asked.

"My spaceship."

"Welcome back, sir," Ultron's voice chimed.

"Yeah," Daniel nodded.

Stepping into the spaceship, Daniel led Quill straight to the bridge, and once he was comfortably seated, Daniel spoke up.

"From now on, you're in charge of cooking, doing the laundry, cleaning, and keeping me company."

Other than having someone to talk to, Ultron was perfectly capable of handling these chores himself. Daniel only brought it up because he wanted to mess with Quill.

"Okay," Quill nodded submissively.

When you're living under someone else's roof, you have no choice but to follow their rules.

Quill was already familiar with this kind of situation; he had gotten used to it aboard Yondu's ship.

"Here, take it back!" Daniel tossed Quill's Walkman back to him.

Quill scrambled to catch it.

"Ultron, play some music."

A melody filled the room.

"How do you have this song?"

Hearing the familiar rhythm, Quill spoke up instantly.

"Isn't this 'Come and Get Your Love'?"

Quill had been listening to the songs in his Walkman for five years, playing them on an endless loop, so the moment Ultron played the very first line, he recognized it immediately.

"This is a song from Earth!" Quill said.

"Yeah," Daniel replied with a nod.

"I'm from Earth too, so of course I listen to Earth music."

"Huh?"

Quill's face was a complete map of question marks.

'What did I just hear? He is from Earth?'

"Since when could people from Earth fly?"

"Since when did they start building spaceships this massive?"

'Am I out of the loop? Didn't they say Earth was a remote, backward planet?'

"Or... am I the fake Earthling here?"

Quill questioned himself in complete disbelief.