Where Destinies Converge
Xandar.
Looking out the window, she couldn't believe she had to flee from yet another planet so soon.
She had truly believed that there would be no possible way for her to get caught so quickly. Choosing the capital of the Nova Empire certainly hadn't been the best decision. Apparently hiding in plain sight was some sort of myth. Relying on an old saying for her freedom had been a mistake. Walking into the bathroom to grab a few more items, she took a quick second to splash her face with some water. When she was younger it had been practically impossible to stay clean, the mere idea of a twelve-year-old trying to survive in an unknown urban city that could be laughable. This didn't stop her from managing, though. She studied her face in the reflection- slim, with pearly white skin, completely black eyes, natural red eyeshadow dragging up and out from her eyes, and shiny silver markings across her face and body. Dark red hair that matched the “eyeshadow” and her name. Yet another reminder of where she comes from, of what she was. One of the last of the few Valani, a race almost wiped out after their neighboring planet, Zorix, had conquered it after a resource shortage. A few years ago this face appeared to her like a stranger. Now, it was the only thing that remained familiar anymore.
Moving quickly, she grabbed her bag- a small one, she had learned at a young age that bringing a lot of personal belongings to a hideout location was stupid- and headed out the door. It was a miracle that they hadn't found her yet, even though she had used a false name at the hotels check-in. She unlocked the door and took a brisk nonchalant glance around the hallway for any suspicious activity. Walking down the hallway and taking the stairs, she didn't bother to spare time using the elevator, which needed a fingerprint to activate. It was better for them to not know she had left anyway. She kept that in mind as she walked straight past the front desk, not bothering to check out, and walking straight out the revolving door. The sun blinded her for a moment as she had been holed up in her hotel room for a few days now, wanting to lay low after her last successful job went slightly wrong.
She hurried up, making her way towards where she hid her ship a few days prior with long, brisk strides. A slight glint of something caught in the corner of her vision. She turned to it, gazing out across the city, leaning against the railing for a moment to rest, a sigh of relief escaping her lungs. She looked below her. Citizens hustled around with their busy lives.
Suddenly, shouting to the right of her caught her attention. She whipped her head around, scared that the Nova Corps had somehow caught her already. But no- it was a man, well, a Terran, throwing something after a green woman who appeared to be carrying a small orb. No, she recognized this woman, but couldn't place it. Narrowing her eyes, she watched closely as the object hit the woman, orange ropes of electricity wrapping around her legs and causing her to fall. She quickly sat up and ripped them off of her, kicking her legs off to throw the man- now practically lunging on top of her. He flew off, falling to the side with a thud. They continued to fight, both still laying down now, until he tried to grab his blaster and she stoped him. The woman grabbed her knife and raised it above her to stab him...
Until getting knocked off of him by another flying object. No, not a flying object, an animal. One she didn't recognize, with a humanoid tree close behind him. She had seen them a few moment prior, standing by a fountain.
The humanoid tree had a bag. She grabbed her tablet and held it up to scan these unknown people, curious. Bounty hunters. A junker. And... Gamora. Her jaw fell slack for a moment. Whatever was going on was important, most likely lucrative, and she wanted to get involved. She could use the exercise anyways, after practically imprisoning herself in a hotel room for the past few days. She set down her bag.
The man still laid on the ground, the tree now attempting to put Gamora in his bag. Branches had wrapped around her, forcing her to stop moving. The unknown animal was now yelling at him, but she was too far to hear what he was saying. Without a second thought, she ran straight at them, leaning down to grab the orb- mid-run- and ran, legs pounding against the ground as she could now hear the man yelling at her to stop.
She could hear the metal slicing towards the air at her- a knife, thrown by Gamora, nicking her hand and forcing her to drop the orb. It rolled forward and off the edge. She glanced behind her and glared at her chasers for a moment before jumping straight off the railing, right after the orb, Gamora right after.
She lunged for it, but Gamora got to it first. Thankfully, at that, since she took off running with the terran jumping off the railing and on top of her immediately after. She giggled a bit, covering her mouth with one hand. They both fell to the ground, Gamora quickly gaining the upper hand.
"Fool. You should have learned," she said, glaring down at him with the orb in her hand.
"I don't learn. One of my issues," he brushed off quickly, grabbing the orb straight out of her hand and attaching some sort of small rocket device to her side, turning it on and causing her to fly off of him, straight into the fountain. He stood there for a moment, seemingly proud of himself, before the tree came up behind him and scooping him straight into the bag, easily carrying him over its shoulder.
"Quit smiling, you idiot. You're supposed to be a professional," she overheard the unknown animal say- the tree's partner, apparently- with a smile of its own across its face, before pausing, the smile gone instantly. "You gotta be kidding me- ooh. Hey!"
Gamora had recovered quickly, tossing the animal out of her way with ease. He had landed on his face. By now, she had begun to sprint after her too. If she had to go against Gamora, fine then. Gamora grabbed her sword and began hacking at the tree's arms, forcing it to drop the bag with the man inside. She managed to cut off both of its arms, with a final spin and a hack to its torso. She reached the bag before Gamora, though, opening it... To immediately take a shot from the man's blaster, him ready to shoot whoever opened the bag first with it.
He got out quickly, before Gamora could realize what was happening, shooting her for good measure, and taking off running, almost tripping on the bag in the process.
"I live for the simple things. Like how much this is gonna hurt," she overheard the unidentified animal say with an audible smile in his voice as she recovered, sitting up just in time to see him hit the man with some kind of electrifying bullet- same kind that the Terran had shot her with, almost. The animal laughed. "Yeah, writhe, little man."
She turned around, realizing Gamora had passed out. One advantage that comes with being Valani- anatomy that prevents most weapons from truly affecting her, like some sort of advanced stamina. Along with heightened senses and easy, almost perfect aim.
The tree made some sort of almost whimpering noise as she stood up.
"It'll grow back, you d'ast idiot. Quit whining," its partner said.
She could feel her feet being lifted off the ground, partnered with a loud whirring noise and a orangey-yellow aura surrounding them. All of them. She groaned, knowing what was coming next. She looked around above her to see the Nova Corps Star Blasters surrounding them.
"Subject 89P13, drop your weapon," one of the officers said over the radio in the Star Blaster.
"Aw, crap," the unidentified animal said, dropping the blaster he was holding.
'Not much of a name,' she thought.
"By the authority of the Nova Corps, you are under arrest," the officer in the Star Blaster continued, "for endangerment to life and the destruction of property."
In the corner of her eye, she saw the Terran getting picked up by a few officers himself. They seemed to banter back and forth for a few seconds, the Terran seemingly embarrassed.
"Fascists," 89P13 spat, glaring up at the ships.
Gamoras still unconscious body now dangled creepily next to her. She watched her out of the corner of her eye.
*ೃ༄
She stood inside of a ship, waiting to be identified. She stood at the back of the line, taking the short amount of time before the officers began scanning to study the unlucky ones who had been arrested with her. "89P13" and the tree had stuck close together throughout the whole process so far, and the terran had been making snippy jokes at officers the entire time. Which had driven her crazy. Gamora had been quiet, glaring around at times. Looking around, all she saw were strangers. Typical.
Gamora, who was at the head of the line, stepped up first. She stood between a glowing blue screen with a hologram portraying information about her that separated her and the officers. She hadn't been able to read it though, since to her, the text was backwards.
"Gamora," read one of the officers who had picked up the Terran, "surgically modified and trained as a living weapon. The adopted daughter of the Mad Titan, Thanos. Recently, Thanos lent her and her sister to Nebula out to Ronan, which leads us to believe that Thanos and Ronan are working together."
Gamora had stood fairly still, stretching out her limbs and turning her head menacingly at the officers.
Next, the unidentified animal.
"Subject 89P13. Calls itself Rocket," he read out.
'Well damn, I would too if i had a name like that originally,' she thought, rolling her eyes.
"Rocket" now crossed his arms, baring his teeth at the officers.
"The result of illegal genetic and cybernetic experiments on a lower life form." The officer continued.
Rocket spit on the ground. She noted where with disgust, to remember to step over it.
"What the hell?" one of the officers behind asked as the tree stepped up to the screen. Its arms were slowly spiraling down, regrowing, as Rocket had said they would. It leaned down to see the officers, too tall to stand normally.
"They call it 'Groot.' A humanoid plant that's been traveling recently as 89P13's personal houseplant/muscle."
Groot stepped up to the glass now, trying to get a better look at them before walking off.
Now, the Terran stepped up.
"Peter Jason Quill, from Terra. Raised from youth by a band of mercenaries called the Ravagers, led by Yondu Udonta."
All the while, "Peter" had been pretending to use a crank, slowly sticking up his middle finger, then made a face full of fake surprise. "Oh, I'm sorry. I-I didn't know how this machine worked."
The officer behind spoke again, "what a bunch of A-holes."
She stepped up calmly, peering at the officers through the glass, which quickly turned to a glare. They clearly assumed they were prestigious and better compared to the group on the other side of the screen. She crossed her arms and stood, waiting for the mechanism to scan her. She watched as her name, backstory, criminal records, and genetic 'abilities' sprawled across the screen.
"Crimson Tide. The last of the Volani after a neighboring planet named Zorix conquered and murdered millions on her planet, enslaving the rest. She managed to escape by stealing a ship that her family hid far in the woods after rumors of rising tensions between the two planets had been announced."
She rolled her eyes and walked off.
"Transport all five to the Kyln," one of the officers said.
Her heart sank. She knew it would have happened eventually, but not today. Today was the day she was meant to get back to her ship, meet up with an old friend, Heidi, on a different planet, make money, and fly a few jumps away. She did not expect that what was supposed to be a quick money grab would actually turn into an entire mess.
*ೃ༄
The Kyln.
She heard stories at thirteen, told by a stranger who caught her trying to steal food. They were most likely just trying to scare her into not falling down the slippery slope she had already fallen down. Despite realizing this, they had made her want to go into hiding and never come out again. However, she had gotten hungry quickly, and went right back to stealing. But she had never actually expected to end up here. She had managed to outmaneuver every police against her until now.
"I guess most of the Nova Corps wanna uphold the laws, but these ones here, they're corrupt and cruel," Rocket stated blatantly. He chuckled. "But, hey, thats not my problem. I ain't gonna be here long. I've escaped 22 prisons. This one's no different. You're lucky the broad showed up, because otherwise, me and Groot would be collecting that bounty right now, and you'd be getting drawn and quartered by Yondu and those Ravagers."
"22?" she asked, surprised.
"Yeah, why? Impressed?" he shot back, turning around to face her, a smirk forming on his face. Her stomach churned in annoyance. She hated seeing pride in others.
"No. I've never needed to escape from a prison. I've gotten away from them all until now," she said, narrowing her eyes at him.
Rocket’s face contorted into anger and frustration as he opened his mouth to snap back.
"I've had a lot of folks try to kill me over the years, I ain't about to be brought down by a tree and a talking raccoon," Peter Quill said before Rocket could respond. So, a raccoon. That's what he is.
"Hold," one of the officers said. Everyone in the line paused suddenly.
"What's a raccoon?" he asked, blatant disgust on his face.
"What's a raccoon?" Peter repeated, an annoyed twinge to his voice. "It's what you are, stupid."
Gamora turned to look at him.
"Ain't no thing like me, except me," Rocket said, turning two thumbs to himself and hitting them against his chest twice.
The door in front of them opened again, and they started walking.
"So, this Orb had a real shiny blue suitcase, Ark of the Covenant, Maltese Falcon sort of vibe," Peter continued.
"What does any of that even mean?" she asked, rhetorically. She heard a snicker, but couldn't tell from who.
Peter ignored her. "What is it?"
"I am Groot," The tree behind her said.
"So what?" Peter shot back at the tree. "What's the Orb?" he asked, now aiming the question to Gamora.
"I have no words for an honorless thief," she responded cooly, not even bothering to look back at him again.
"Pretty high and mighty coming from the lackey of a genocidal maniac," Rocket responded, in place of Peter.
Gamora turned back at him for a moment, surprised.
"Yeah, I know who you are. Anyone who's anyone would know who you are."
"Yeah, we know who you are," Peter shouted up at her, confidently. "Who is she?" he asked behind him- Crimson and Groot.
She rolled her eyes, half unimpressed, half dismissively.
"I am Groot," Groot responded kindly, more emphasis on the last word.
"Yeah, you said that," Peter replied.
There was a quick moment of silence.
"I wasn't retrieving the Orb for Ronan," Gamora said, the guard in front pressing some buttons on a screen strapped to his arm, "I was betraying him. I had an agreement to sell it to a third party."
Another set of doors opened, and then filed in.
"I am Groot," the tree responded.
"Well, that is just as fascinating as the first 89 times you told me that. What is wrong with Giving Tree, here?" Peter said, clearly annoyed.
"Well, he don't know talking good like me and you. So his vocabulistics is limited to 'I' and 'am' and 'Groot.' Exclusively in that order," Rocket said in a matter-so-factly sort of tone.
"I tell you what, that is gonna wear real thin, real fast, but..." Peter said, but trailed off, pausing for a moment as he looked in where the employees were handling their personal belongings. One of them seemed to be bobbing their head, some sort of hat wrapped around their head and covering their ears. "Hey! Put that away," he snapped. The door, beeped, shutting. He slipped inside. "Hey! Listen to me, you big blue bastard. Take those headphones off. That's mine. Those belong to impound."
They all gathered closer to watch, curious.
"That tape, and that player, is mine!" he was shouting now, but the guard was now walking over with some sort of an electric rod. He shocked him once, forcing Peter to his knees. "Hooked on a Feeling, Blue Swede, 1973. That song belongs to me!"
He was shocked multiple times now, the group all huddled around to watch. She snickered a bit, glancing around to see Gamora pressed against the fencing, her fingers looped through the holes. Groot leaned down a bit to watch as well. However, Peter writhed on the ground.
*ೃ༄
They led them to some sort of shower room, a strange orange liquid pooled around what seemed to be a clogged drain. She stood next to Gamora and they both waited, dressed in tank tops and a pair of underwear. Gamora was called to go first. She walked forward and stood where they had directed her too. They shot out some sort of orange liquid directly at her, yet she barely budged. When they turned it off, she walked away calmly.
Crimson wrinkled her nose up at her, stepping up when the guard told her too and standing where Gamora had previously. When the liquid shot at her, it was so harsh it smashed her against the metal chain fencing behind her. She almost screamed, the pressure causing her skin to sting at contact. When it was finally turned off, she looked to Gamora, who paid her no mind. They were then ushered into a room with nothing but a few benches and some clothes.
She sighed, grabbing a towel to attempt to wipe off the unknown liquid.
"Simply protocol, girls," one of the guards had told them before shutting the door and leaving them to change.
They were both given two yellow shirts with cutoff sleeves and a pair of yellow pants. Apparently, that was the prison uniform here. Almost certain she smelled, she desperately tried to scrape more off the liquid off, which did nothing but irritate her skin.
After changing, the doors opened again, leading them to a room with the guys once more. She stared around at them. They wore similar outfits, but with long sleeves instead. Well, Peter did. Rocket had a shirt similar to theirs. The guards slammed some sort of wrapped up black cloth against them and moved them along, not giving them time to stop, or rather, time to try to escape. They now entered the actual prison area, a loud, noisy room with tables and chairs surrounding them. A cafeteria. Surrounding it were many balconies, and even angling her head up, she couldn’t see where they ended.
And a lot of other prisoners.