Discimer - All the owners have their respective rights. I only own the characters that came from my addled brain (don’t worry, I am pletely sober).

  Knowhere[2014]

  Previously

  “I am telling you Rocket, we are going to be rich after this,” Peter Quill said to Rocket Ra as they alighted their ship aered the Collector’s base of operations.

  While Peter was enthusiastic about the money as was Rocket, Gamora herself was feeling uneasy about the ehing because if there was ohing she had learned about long lived beings in all her time with Thanos, it was that things were very rarely straightforward with them.

  This bounty might seem like it paid 4 billion units, enough to buy aire star system filled with habitable ps and theire there for the rest of their natural lifespan, it also came with Caveats.

  For o housed an Infinity Stone, something that had her father send Ronan to collect it. Oh, she was sure that Ronan would double cross her father at the first opportunity Ronan would get but her father probably khat as well.

  Living with her Father and her extremely petitive sister, she had learhat her Father was rarely in the same step as others. He was always a dozen steps ahead of everyone.

  He probably did this so that wheime came wheime came to collect all the Stones for sure, he would know the location of ead every one.

  After all, most of the Stones were lost to time. Having them found by third parties, then having those parties deposit them in a supposedly safe pce where he could easily collect them wheime came, was something that sounded like her Father could e up with.

  Sure, Ronan armed with an Infinity Stone could do some real damage before he ut down but her father must be banking on someone else stopping Ronan before he did said damage. Maybe the Streak that wreaked havo Kree territory would be the one who would end up dealing with an amped up Ronan.

  After all, she did seem to have a particurly nasty enmity with the Kree, having inflicted more damage on the Kree Empire than anyone did i hundred or so cycles.

  Drax, oher hand, was uned with the whole bounty colle thing. He was only with them because he was hoping to get a ride with them back to Xandar where he would tinue his quest for Vengeance.

  Oh, he was sure that he was going to die. No doubt about it. The only question was if he could take Ronan down with him.

  “Ah, Wele! I assume you have the item with you?” The Collectreeted the unventional group at the entrance of his plex, with a in tow.

  “Ah, yes, I have the item with me. Do you have the credits with you?” Peter Quill, said, in a manner he hoped looked cool enough to impress Gamora.

  Tivan merely snapped his fingers, causing a to e forward and show them the tablet, indig the current standing bance of Collector and his various enterprises.

  The amount of zeroes on that thing had Rocket aer salivating.

  “Now, the Orb, please?” Collector extended his hand, on top of which Peter happily put the orb.

  Tivan looked deeply at the gathered forces, most of whom had te his ck of a before turning around and snapping at a who hastily pushed some buttons oablet before turning it around and showing it to the fledgling group.

  The transa details for the bounty were dispyed oablet. This caused Rocket to whoop in joy as he followed the Collector, with Gamora following behind him with a wary look on her fabsp;

  Drax, slipped away from the group, going towards a bar with a group of shady meraries sipping away their lives on cheap booze. Groot noticed it but tinued on after Rocket called for him.

  Ihe receptionist chamber of the Collector's enterprise, they watched as the Collector opehe Orb with a plex tool meant specifically for opening pattern locked devices.

  The Collectaled them with tales of the Infinity Sto ihe Orb, even showing them rare footage of Celestials using the Power Stone in the past to raze dowire ps, without much effort at all.

  All the members of the soon to be Guardians of the Gaxy were too engrossed iale that the Collector was weaving for them, as was The Collector himself.

  As such, they failed to notice the gleam that a had in her eyes as she saw the entire footage from far away and heard the sheer power that the Stone could give her.

  a was a sve, pin and simple. As far as she could remember, she was a sve. She was chosen for some reason she never had the guts to ask the Collector. She was the one who was responsible for the upkeep and administration of the entire Collector enterprise.

  Due to the advent of AI and her own prodigious mental faculties, she never really had any issues with managing such a vast empire. On the trary, seeing that she had no issues with anything, the Collector eventually offloaded his entire administrative burden on her shoulders, freeing himself from something he saw as tedious but necessary.

  From then on, the Collector only ordered around a who scrambled to follow all his orders. As such, a unknowingly came into possession of tremendous power.

  Power over the vast mining empire of the Collector. Power over the life ah of the Colles in the Collector’s colle.

  She was the one who ied the most with the people who were imprisoned in the Collector’s colle. She was the one who realised that what the Collector was doing was wrong and that she could free them.

  Many times, the thought crossed her mind, to free everyone and try their hand against the Collector, a, her hand always snaked back at the st moment.

  What if the Collector saw this ing and had prepared for her?

  The thoughts became more frequent with the ret addition of Jack Sullivan, a hero of Earth. Sure, Earth itself was worth less than dirt when it came to the text of power in the wider gaxy, ahe one who came from such a p had the power to topple the Collector’s trol over her, over everyone who was locked in those prisons dressed as white fortable pods.

  Jack was the one who could make things right, the one who could finish the Collector before he could stop them. All she had to do ush oton, and Jack would be free from all his bounds, leading to the demise of the Collector and the freedom of all the prisoners.

  A, her hand never seemed to have the strength necessary to push the final button. Many a times she reached the st stage of the application, ready to push the final button a, she never seemed to be able to press the firmation button, always feeling as if the malevolent shadow of the Collector ressing down on her.

  A, right at this moment, as she looked at the Orb that was finally about to be opened up, she looked at her other hand, which held a small vial of twinkling blue fluid, and then at the tablet iher hand, which showed the process of opening up all the pods, irrespective of their ditions.

  Sure, it would inveniene of the ones with sensitive enviroal requirements, but the sedary systems should ki soon enough. That small window should be enough for Mr.Jack to escape from his fi so that he could rescue her.

  She had this pn ready when she khat the Collector would be busy with some rare object that was about to e into his possession.

  Now though?

  Now she didn’t feel like she needed Mr. Jack’s help to free herself. No, she could do that herself.

  If those giants could destroy ps with the power of that Stohen she should be able to kill one Collector aroy this accursed pbsp;

  She had reserved the primed C-fluid, ohat she smuggled from the Collector's eyes because she k held healing properties. It was a just in case situation because she had researched about her species and her species was onown to be the foremost experts in pyrokiibsp;

  The ability to wield fire, to wield the power of fires, of all kinds, to devastating effect.

  Unfortunately, their kind was caught up in a civil war right iween the Kree-Skrull war, leading to their near extin. As far as the Collector's database was ed, she was the st one of her species.

  She had never really explored her aral powers but she had a gut feeling that using the Primed C-fluid would give her a leg up in that regard. She had kept it as a st resort but noiven form was in front of her, she could not afford to hesitate anymore.

  So, without any ado, she pressed the button oablet before dropping it, not looking if the and ted or not. The Colleust have noticed something was wrong because he turned around to look at her at the same moment but he was far too te.

  Far too te to stop her from gaining her freedom. From gaining ultimate power, so that she could be free to make all of her decisions.

  As her hand closed around the pretty looking Stone, aric current ran through her entire body, causing her right arm to flinch, breaking the vial of primed C-fluid in her hand. The fluid itself was caught in the purple currents, filling her entire body with indescribable agony.

  She looked at the Collector with much difficulty, as the entire area around her was ravaged with the purple arcs of energy. She raised her right arm, which was shredded down to the bone, and brought her arm to her mouth, and licked the primed C-fluid off of it.

  As soon as her toouched the healing fluid, her back arched as another energy made itself known in front of her. Twin arcs of twinkling blue and purple ravaged her body from the inside as a purple fire began maing all around her body.

  She looked at the purple fire with happiness and awe, “So pretty….”

  The fire tio spread around her, creating a void of matter around her as anything that came into tact with the purple fire around her was instantly disied.

  By now, the Guardians of the Gaxy had retreated far away from the se, only the Collector was left who was looking at the se with something akin to i.

  a looked at him, then at her hand which was still funal, and at the purple fire raging havoc all arouhe mere sight of the purple fire seemed to burn a light inside of her, emboldening her.

  So, even as her body tio break down from the strain of the two energies inside her body, she took a siep towards the Collector, with a grin on her face.

  That same bloody grin looked like the one of a Grim Reaper to Tivan, who immediately started bag away with his hands in the air.

  “...O-Oh a, look at you now, unlog your aral powers. e on, what did you do? Why are the systems opening oer the other? Huh?” The Collector stammered out, wary of what a would do now that she had power and the wish to a it.

  a didn’t say a single word, only raised her arm towards the Collector and tried to will the fire to explode towards him.

  IT worked. Despite having no experieh her aral powers, a mao get her message across to the purple fires.

  The only thing was that the fires were currently being wielded by someone who was holding an Infinity Stone in her hand, more specifically, the Power Stone in their hand.

  The purple fires, instead of being directed just at the Collector, instead spread apart, reag far and wide, sinking down into the lower floors of the Collector Enterprise, as well as reag Tivan.

  a’s entire surroundings were flooded with a purple fire that seemed to burhing it touched. She could not see it but the Colelctor’s pained screams were like music to her ears.

  “AAAAAA!”

  She smiled one moment, relishing his screams of pain, w how he survived the fmes, and the moment her face morphed into one of pain as he fell down to one khe fires around her fring in response.

  She looked at her hand and legs, as they were now glowing with purple veins in them. Most of her skin was fking off and seemed to tinue going that way.

  She smiled, a bloned smile, as she realised her folly and the fact that she was about to die here.

  She looked at the hand holding the Stone which was mostly charred now. She couldn’t eve.

  “...Ah….So pretty,” She murmured as she looked, once again at the purple fires, and closed her eyes….forever.

  The Guardians of the Gaxy had retreated to a remote er of the nding area, watg as a tornado of purple fire ravaged the Collector’s office.

  “...See what you got us into, Dumbass!” Rocket Ra scoffed at Peter before turning around to get to his ship.

  “Hey! At Least we got the mohis time,” Peter turned around as well. Gamora took o look at the purple fire and after g her fist ourned around as well. She had taken maybe two steps when Rocket’s question made her stht iracks.

  “Hey, Where is Drax? Did that musclehead lose his way somewhere?”

  She sighed and was about to turn around to look for Drax wheer’s terrified voice reached her ears.

  “Guys, I think I know what Drax went to do,”

  She looked out of the hangar of Knowhere and her eyes widened as she saw the Dark Aster floating right outside Knowhere.

  She cursed as all of them ran towards the ship, i oing out of this pce before Ronan nded on it.

  They had no ce of stopping the Accuser. They also had no way of getting past that purple fire, to get the Stone. All they could do was hope that the purple fire stumped Ronan as well a out of this pce with their credits.

  She had no other pns ahead but she would run as long as she could, from her father. Under no circumstances, could Thanos e into possession of the knowledge she had.

  They were right at their ship when a huge explosion rocked the entire hangar facility…no the ey of Knowhere.

  She looked out of the hangar spad cursed as she saw Ronan ing down.

  “AHAHA! Finally! REVENGE WILL BE MINE!”

  She looked back to see Drax shouting like a madman as he ran straight to his death.

  She closed her eyes in resignation.

  God help her from idiots.

  Word t - 2572

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