The ship had been quiet for too long.Which, in my experience, was never a good sign.
VIX was silent.Illyana was humming some kind of old Asgardian war chant under her breath while polishing her blade with what looked suspiciously like a Kree bounty notice.Lyra was… casually lounging upside down in one of the passenger seats, eating some glowing purple fruit and pretending she wasn't watching me every time I moved.
I, naturally, was doing the only sensible thing one can do while being hunted across twelve star systems by at least three governments: pacing in circles and muttering about radiation anomalies.
"Cody," VIX finally said in my head, "you've ignored fifteen passive sensor warnings. Want to guess how many of them were related to incoming death?"
"Uh… all of them?" I guessed, because optimism had long since left the building.
"Correct! Ding ding ding. Congratulations—you've just won a front-row seat to nuclear incineration."
Before I could respond with something clever (or at least sarcastic), the ship jolted hard to the left.
Lyra rolled midair and landed on her feet like a damn cat. "That wasn't me," she said, eyeing Illyana.
Illyana narrowed her eyes. "It wasn't me either."
"…VIX?"
"I didn't touch anything!" VIX snapped. "Something just moved us."
That was when the light hit us.A golden flash, impossibly bright, slammed through the cockpit window like the wrath of a sun goddess. Everything else—the stars, the dashboard, Illyana's cheekbones—vanished in that brilliance.
And then she appeared.
She didn't use a door. She just… stepped inside.
Tall, radiant, ethereal—like a nuclear angel forged from sunlight and pure disdain. Her body shimmered with translucent golden-red skin that seemed to pulse with barely contained power. Her hair was long, bone-white, and floated behind her as if gravity was optional. Her eyes were like twin supernovas that judged you before you even opened your mouth.
She looked like a woman who could bench-press a moon and then critique your fashion sense while doing it.
"I have found you," she said, her voice echoing across the ship like the start of a prophecy. "The anomaly."
"...That's me," I said, raising my hand slowly. "Cody. Anomaly. Chronic bad decision-maker. You are…?"
"Tanya Belinsky," she said, taking a step forward. "But that name is old. I am Starlight now."
"Cool, cool, great," I said, taking a step back because my skin was starting to itch just from being near her. "Do you come in peace, or…?"
"I came to see if the rumors were true," she said. "That a soul marked by chaos reincarnates endlessly, defies the laws of entropy, and draws destruction wherever it travels."
I blinked. "Okay, that's… not inaccurate."
Lyra folded her arms. "He also leaves the toilet seat up. Regularly."
Illyana grunted. "And he owes me a ship. And possibly a kidney."
Starlight ignored them both, stepping closer to me until I could feel my molecules humming in protest. Her hand reached out—not touching, just hovering—over my chest.
"I can feel it," she whispered. "You're not anchored. Not really alive. Not really dead. You are a walking paradox."
"Well, I've been called worse," I muttered.
Then she did something I didn't expect.
She smiled.
Not a condescending cosmic smirk, not a cruel grin, but a real, slow, curious smile—like someone seeing a puzzle they didn't understand and kind of loving it.
"You interest me," she said. "I want to study you."
I coughed. "You mean scientifically, right?"
Her eyes glowed a bit brighter. "Among other things."
Behind her, I heard both Lyra and Illyana simultaneously crack their knuckles.
"Excuse me," Lyra said sweetly. "Did you just try to claim my human anomaly like he's a pet project?"
"He's not yours either," Illyana cut in, drawing her blade and resting it across her shoulders. "He's mine until he pays off the bounty that got me shot at by three interdimensional assassins and one moderately polite robot."
"I never said I was anyone's!" I yelped.
All three women turned to look at me.
I immediately regretted speaking.
"Silence," Starlight said, not unkindly. "This is a matter of higher logic."
Lyra scoffed. "It's a matter of me knocking the gamma sparkle off your glowing forehead."
VIX, bless her, finally broke in. "This is all very sexually tense and vaguely threatening, but might I remind you that the ship is drifting toward a black hole?"
"…What?" I yelled.
"Radiation disrupted the engines. Hull integrity dropping. Congratulations—if no one kills you, space will."
Starlight turned, flicked her fingers, and just willed the energy field stabilizers back online with a gesture. The lights flickered. The ship stopped spinning.
I blinked.
Illyana blinked.
Lyra swore under her breath.
"She's hot," I whispered.
"And terrifying," VIX added.
"…Still hot."