"Raccoon? I'm called Rocket! I'm no raccoon!" Rocket Raccoon, despite having a brain enhanced to top-tier intelligence across the universe, had some issues with self-awareness. Or rather, Rocket had no knowledge of raccoons as a species, so he didn't believe he was one. In Rocket's fragile and sensitive mind, he was merely a bizarrely modified creature, not any known species, and he hated being called anything else.
"Fine, Rocket, we need to get moving. That guy outside is my enemy, and he won't let me go..." Star-Lord, hearing the continued explosions from outside the space prison, urgently said to Rocket. "Besides, I'm worth more than just Yondu's bounty. I have the Orb. I don't know exactly how much it's worth, but I'm sure it's worth far more than me!"
Afraid that Rocket might not see him as valuable enough to help, Star-Lord mentioned the Orb, knowing that escaping this space prison alone was impossible. Even with the guards distracted, he wasn't confident he could make it out, let alone retrieve his belongings. Any one of the prisoners here could easily knock him down, let alone escape while carrying his things.
"The Orb? What's that?" Rocket's eyes lit up, though without any equipment handy to check its details, he couldn't gather more intel. But that didn't stop Rocket from guessing its value.
In Rocket's view, Star-Lord—who had no real assets and wasn't particularly impressive—wasn't worth the four thousand bounty on his head. But the mention of the Orb made Rocket realize something was up.
"Wait! I know someone who's been looking for the Orb. He's offering forty billion!" Gamora chimed in, her eyes lighting up as she addressed Star-Lord and Rocket.
"Forty billion?!" Rocket's eyes widened in shock, and even Star-Lord was stunned. He knew the Orb was valuable, but forty billion was far beyond his expectations. He stared at Gamora, impressed by her apparent connections, unaware that the buyer she was referring to was the Collector.
"Gamora, what do you mean?!" Nebula, still in Drax's grip, was furious. She glared at Gamora, enraged because this wasn't information Gamora was supposed to know.
The Orb was something Thanos wanted, potentially containing either the Power Stone or the Soul Stone. Both Nebula and Gamora should have been delivering it to Thanos, not contacting outside buyers. Gamora's plan was an act of betrayal!
"I have my reasons," Gamora said firmly, locking eyes with Nebula. "Don't forget, Nebula, we're no different from Drax. We were only spared when Thanos slaughtered our people because he saw us as tools."
"Do you think Thanos raised us because he loves us? Because he wants to turn us into his real children? No! Thanos needs tools, tools to fulfill his ambitions. We're just that, tools—just like the Black Order. Do you really want to keep being used this way? At least they were born with power, but we had to endure one inhuman modification after another. You've been turned into this inhuman monster…"
"Do you think I survived all those times because I'm stronger or more determined than you? No! I just wanted to hold onto the bloodline my mother gave me. I didn't want to become a monster, and I was terrified that, when I die and see my mother again, she wouldn't recognize me."
"We were all victims..." Drax, hearing Gamora's words, slowly released his grip. He had always viewed Gamora and Nebula as murderous villains, but now he saw them as victims, too.
This didn't absolve them of their crimes, but it made clear that Thanos was the true cause of their suffering. If there was anyone to blame, it was Thanos, and revenge should be sought against him.
"Is that really it…?" Nebula stood there, dazed. She began recalling the brutal training she and Gamora endured together. It dawned on her that Gamora had never been trying to beat her; she had just been trying to survive with her body intact.
"Modifications…" Rocket's voice softened as he looked at Nebula, his eyes moistening. He recognized the extensive artificial modifications made to Nebula, some of which were poorly executed. The sight reminded Rocket of his own buried memories of being experimented on and modified.
"Mother..." Star-Lord, too, was moved. Though the talk of modifications didn't affect him as much, the mention of a mother hit home. He realized he couldn't let himself die in this space prison—not in the hands of someone like Korath.
"Alright, listen. It seems like we all have reasons to work together. Whether it's to sell the Orb or to deal with Ronan's forces and Thanos, I think it's time we put our past grievances aside. What do you all say?" Star-Lord was the first to break the silence. As another tremor shook the space prison, he turned to the group and made his pitch.
"He's scared of a mere underling of Ronan, but he claims he wants to take on Thanos?" Nebula, now reevaluating her past anger toward Gamora, couldn't resist taking a jab at Drax.
"Scared? Impossible! The Destroyer fears nothing!" Drax shouted, his eyes flaring with anger as he moved to confront the explosion outside. But Star-Lord quickly stopped him.
"Hey! Destroyer, I know you're strong, but no one can fight a spaceship. Of course, I do know some very strong people. If we ever get the chance, I'll introduce you to them..." Star-Lord grinned as he tried to reason with Drax.
"But fighting a spaceship head-on is not the smart move. We need to be strategic. On Earth, there's this group called the Avengers. They're a team of superhumans who work together to take down big threats. Maybe we could try something like that. Ronan and Thanos? They're definitely threats big enough to warrant cooperation, right?"
Star-Lord was genuinely impressed with Drax's strength. Even though Drax's abilities might not measure up to the Avengers, he was still formidable compared to the rest of the group, aside from Groot. Star-Lord felt that if he could convince Drax to work with them, he'd feel a lot safer. As for taking down Ronan and Thanos—that could be a problem for another day, with help from others if needed.
"Work together?" Drax seemed intrigued but hadn't made up his mind yet. However, before he could respond, another tremor rocked the prison, and everyone suddenly felt lighter.
"The gravity system is malfunctioning! If we're going to work together, we need to move fast. Follow my lead—we'll take the control room, retrieve our stuff and the Orb, and find a ship to escape!" Rocket shouted, snapping the group into action.
With the space prison crumbling around them and Korath's forces closing in, Star-Lord and the others quickly seized the control room, using the thrusters to propel themselves out of the prison. They found their belongings, boarded Star-Lord's ship, and escaped just in time. The prison's outer walls were being blown apart as they made their getaway.
"Is the Kree Empire really declaring war?!" Nova Corps ships had surrounded Korath's fleet, but the standoff was tense. The angry voices of the Nova Corps echoed aboard Korath's ship, but Korath remained unfazed.
Just as Ronan disregarded the Kree Empire's leadership, Korath didn't care about starting a war with the Nova Empire. The lower ranks of the Kree had always been war-hungry, and they opposed the peace treaty with Nova. These were the people Ronan counted on for support.
"I told you, hand over Star-Lord, or we go to war. Don't think the Kree Empire signed that peace treaty out of fear of you. Your Nova Corps, with its defensive combat strategies, could never stand up to us!" Korath sneered, openly provoking them.
"Where's Star-Lord? What? He escaped the prison? Where did he go?" The Nova Corps, who had been keeping tabs on Star-Lord, only now realized that he had escaped.
"What? Useless!" Korath, hearing the news, immediately began scanning the prison for traces of Star-Lord and the Orb. Once he confirmed their absence, he cursed and began tracking any nearby space-jump points to follow their trail.
"Aren't we going to stop them?" someone from the Nova Corps hesitated.
"We can't. Even Ronan's subordinate Korath is enough to deal a heavy blow to us. Besides, Star-Lord isn't one of us—he's a criminal, and he just escaped. Why should we risk our people to help him? If he escapes and causes problems for Ronan, that would work out just fine for us," came the reasoning. They saw no point in risking their lives for a fugitive.
Meanwhile, Star-Lord and the others were unaware that Korath was on their trail. Upon hearing Gamora mention the buyer and the destination, Star-Lord's eyes widened in shock.
"Wait! Your buyer is the Collector?" Star-Lord exclaimed.
"What's the problem? The job was originally put up by the Collector, and only someone like him would collect such bizarre things..." Gamora replied, frowning at Star-Lord's reaction.
"The problem is, my Ravager crew took the job from him, and I stole the Orb for myself. If we go back there, won't we
be walking right into a trap?" Star-Lord scratched his head, clearly hesitant.
"Your crew is that powerful? More powerful than me and my gun?" Rocket taunted, waving his heavy laser gun dismissively.
"Uh, with Groot on our side, we should be fine..." Star-Lord thought for a moment, realizing that, aside from Yondu, the rest of the Ravagers weren't a match for Rocket or Groot. This eased his concerns a bit.
Soon, Star-Lord and the others reached their destination—the mysterious Knowhere. This place was one of the wonders of the universe, not a planet but a severed head.
Yes, Knowhere was the decapitated head of a Celestial, an immensely powerful being from the Celestial race.
Hundreds of years ago, the Collector had laid claim to this place, sending his minions to mine valuable resources such as bones, brain tissue, and spinal fluid from the Celestial's remains. Given how rare beings of this magnitude were, it was a treasure trove of resources, too valuable not to exploit.
The Collector had used the profits from Knowhere to build a thriving base of operations, attracting outlaws from all over the galaxy to conduct their shady dealings here.
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