Training Instructor: Shendu

The inspection work at the cleanup station continued all afternoon.

Quill squatted off to the side, drinking a Coke he had somehow gotten his hands on while watching the "talking mascot" with great interest.

"Seriously," he suddenly said, "what species are you, exactly? You're not really some legendary Eastern dragon, are you?"

Shendu paused. "Didn't you already confirm that? And by the way, my name is Valmont."

"I know. Natasha told me before."

Quill waved a hand. "I'm asking what kind of creature you are. I've seen plenty of weird-looking things off-world, but dragons... honestly, you don't see that form very often."

Quill looked at Shendu. The other had already changed forms once, shifting from a five-clawed dragon into something resembling a human.

Shendu turned around and looked at the Earthling in the red leather jacket.

Under the sunlight, Quill's face was much clearer than it had been the night before.

He was in his early thirties, with the casualness and wariness of someone who had drifted through space for far too long. Those two qualities usually did not appear in the same person.

"I used to be human," Shendu said.

He recalled the days when he had possessed Valmont.

"Used to be?" Quill raised a brow. "Then what are you now, some cursed prince?"

Steve cleared his throat from nearby. "Mr. Quill, please maintain a professional attitude."

"Relax, America's Ass."

Quill grinned mischievously. "I'm just making conversation. You spend too long floating around in space, and you get chatty when you meet someone from home."

Steve's expression twitched subtly.

Shendu noticed.

"You've been away from Earth for a long time?" he asked.

Quill shrugged. "Let's see... more than twenty years. A group of Ravagers took me when I was eight, and I've been out there ever since."

"Ravagers?" Shendu repeated.

"Interstellar mercenaries. If you want to make it sound nicer, bounty hunters."

Quill took a long swig of Coke. "I worked for Yondu—the blue-skinned bastard who raised me—for all those years. I only recently started working on my own."

Shendu slowly nodded. "More than twenty years. Don't you miss it?"

Quill froze for a moment.

"Miss what?"

"Home."

The word settled into the air, followed by a brief silence.

Quill lowered his head and looked at the Coke can in his hand, unconsciously wiping away the condensation with his fingers. "Honestly, I don't remember much."

His voice dropped. "I only remember my mom... what she looked like when she was sick. Everything else is blurry."

Shendu did not ask further. He turned back to continue examining the wreckage before him, but in that instant, he caught something that flickered through Quill's eyes.

It was not sadness, much less nostalgia. It was something more complicated—the confusion of someone who had drifted for too long, faced with the roots he had lost.

This human had a weakness.

Shendu silently noted it.

By evening, the cleanup station's work was nearing its end.

Steve received a communication and stepped aside to speak in a low voice for a few moments. When he returned, his expression was serious. "S.H.I.E.L.D. has new arrangements."

Shendu raised his head and looked at the blond, broad-chested man before him.

"There's an issue with the handling of the Chitauri wreckage," Steve said. "Some crash sites are located in radiation-contaminated zones. Those areas were previously affected by Tesseract energy, and cleanup efforts there have been slow."

"We need to quickly assess the wreckage and determine what can be recovered and what needs to be sealed on-site."

"What does that have to do with me?" Quill asked.

"You're a contractor. Your job is to recover reusable materials," Steve explained.

He turned the watch on his wrist. It was an information transfer device used to record Shendu's behavior.

It now functioned as a small projector, displaying a contract that clearly stated that the contractor must not harm Earth's environment during disposal operations.

"If you unknowingly come into contact with highly radioactive wreckage, it could pose a risk to both you and Earth."

Steve looked at Quill. "So we've decided that everyone involved needs basic training before entering the radiation zones."

"Training?"

"On identifying and protecting against the radiation hazards of alien materials." Steve shifted his gaze to Shendu. "Little Dragon is the most suitable instructor."

Shendu did not respond immediately. He was assessing the possibilities of the situation.

Why choose him? In theory, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s internal specialists would have been better suited for it.

Shendu slowly spoke. "You want me to teach him how to identify dangerous wreckage?"

"Not just him."

Steve said, "There are also more than a dozen cleanup crew members. You currently know more about Chitauri technology than anyone else on Earth, and you have a special ability to sense energy fluctuations. Besides, Tony recommended you."

Tony Stark.

Shendu memorized the name. Why would he recommend him?

"I need time to prepare," he said.

"It starts tomorrow morning and lasts three days."

Steve had expected Shendu not to agree immediately. "It'll be held in one of Stark Industries' laboratories. Tony will provide the location and equipment."

Three days.

Shendu lowered his eyes.

Three days was enough to earn a human's trust.

"I agree," he said.

Quill raised a hand from the side. "Nobody's going to ask whether I agree?"

Steve looked at him.

Quill shrugged beneath that gaze. "Fine. It's not like I have anything else to do. Three days it is. Learning something can't hurt."

Shendu looked at him, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.

This human really was easy to persuade.

The first day of training was held in a Stark Industries laboratory.

The facility was larger than Shendu had imagined. More than a dozen cleanup crew members sat in temporary seats, with various scanning devices and sample containers laid out before them.

Quill sat in the last row, looking bored out of his mind.

Shendu stood before the lectern, using projections to display the anatomical structure of Chitauri organisms and the composition of their energy cores.

During a break, Quill approached him.

"You actually sound pretty convincing up there," he said.

Shendu glanced at him. "You're not interested?"

"I am, but I'm more interested in..." Quill looked around and lowered his voice. "Did you really fight the Chitauri?"

Shendu nodded.

"Are those things tough?"

"Weaker than you imagine," Shendu said. "Their strength comes from collective control. Individual soldiers have limited combat ability."

Quill nodded thoughtfully.

"Have you seen the Kree?" Quill suddenly asked.

Shendu narrowed his eyes. "No."

"That's a shame," Quill said. "The Kree are the real hard cases. If you ever run into Ronan the Accuser, you'll know what real trouble is."

Shendu did not respond.

He watched the human's expressions, gestures, and eyes as he spoke.

When Quill mentioned Ronan the Accuser, a flicker of tension appeared in his eyes. It was the reaction of someone who had faced real danger.

This human had seen genuine threats, yet he had survived until now.

"You're a good warrior," Shendu suddenly said.

Quill blinked. "What?"

"Surviving in space for more than twenty years isn't easy."

Quill blinked again, then smiled. "Was that a compliment?"

Shendu did not answer. He turned and walked back toward the lectern.

Quill did not notice that as Shendu turned away, his gaze swept over Quill's pocket once more.

The pendant was still there.