Secrets in the Orb
Space.
The group had safely left the prison, and were now leaving one Quill’s ship, the Milano. The inside was typical for a ship of this design, mostly metal internally, with seating and a few tables. There were a few doorways she had yet to go through. The walls were covered with metal plating, screws, and wires.
The ship whirred through the inky black. Crimson gazed out the window, watching the stars as they passed. Rocket hummed some sort of a song behind her. She turned to watch him as he worked on some sort of a small machine. Peter noticed.
”Whoa, whoa, whoa. Yo! Ranger Rick! What are you doing? You can’t take apart my ship without asking me!” Quill yelled, approaching him. “See, what is this?” he asked, reaching down to grab one of the many metal parts and contraptions sprawled across the floor.
“Don’t touch that!” Rocket said. Quill stood back up. “It’s a bomb.”
”A bomb?” Quill repeated.
”Yup.” Rocket stated dismissively.
”And you leave it lying around?” Quill asked, his voice strained.
”I was gonna put it in a box,” Rocket replied, now annoyed.
“What’s a box gonna do?” Quill asked wildly.
Rocket turned around the area he was sitting near. A small, colorfully wrapped box must have caught his eye. There was a blue bow wrapped around it, like a present.
“How about this one?” Rickey offered, grabbing it.
”No! Whoa. Hey! Leave it alone,” Peter replied, kicking the apartment which held the box shut. Crimson watched them bicker.
”Why? What is it?” Rocket asked, turning to see Quill.
”Shut up,” Quill replied defensively.
“Hey!” Rocket said, his voice smaller. He then scoffed.
”What is that?” Peter asked, diverting his attention.
”Thats for if things get really hardcore,” Rocket said, turning back to Peter again and smiling. “Or if you wanna blow up moons.”
”Blow up moons?” Crimson repeated, her tone a bit eager.
”No one’s blowing up moons,” Gamora stated.
”You just wanna suck the joy out of everything,” Rocket said quietly, resuming what he was working on.
Crimson nodded in agreement, a bit upset. She slumped back down in her chair, but continued to watch him. She couldn’t help but be fascinated with him and what he was doing.
Peter walked back over to where he had been previously standing, a table where Drax sat and Gamora stood near.
“So, listen, I’m gonna need your buyer’s coordinates,” Peter told Gamora, reaching up to a screen hanging from the ceiling to type something in.
”We’re heading in the right direction. For now.” she replied, looking up at him.
“If we’re gonna work together, you might try trusting me little bit,” she heard him respond, walking closer to Gamora.
”And how much do you trust me?” Gamora asked.
”I’d trust you a lot more if you told me what this was,” Peter responded, taking the Orb from Gamora. “Because I’m guessing it’s some kind of weapon.” He placed it down on the table in front of him.
Crimson stood and walked over to the table to watch the commotion. She heard Rocket follow close behind.
”I don’t know what it is.” Gamora said.
”If it’s a weapon, we should use it against Ronan,” Drax said, picking the Orb up off the table.
”Put it down, you fool. You’ll destroy us all,” Gamora said harshly.
“Or just you, murderess!” Drax yelled, standing and stalking closer to her.
”I let you live once, princess!” Gamora yelled back.
”I am not a princess!” Drax argued.
Peter added himself to the mix. “Hey! Nobody is killing anybody on my ship!”
”Now, that’s a disappointment. It would've been fun watching them fight,” Crimson said, glaring at Peter.
”We’re stuck together until we get the money,” Peter replied, glaring back at her.
”I have no interest in money,” Drax said, tossing the Orb back to Peter, then walking away.
”Great. That means more money for the four of us,” Peter said, looking around the table at the group.
Groot huffed. “Hmm?”
Peter sighed. “The five of us. Partners,” he said through a tight-lipped smile.
“We have an agreement, but I would never be partners with the likes of you,” Gamora snapped back. “I’ll tell the buyer we’re on our way.”
“Finally,” Crimson muttered, crossing her arms.
Gamora began to walk away, but turned back around. “And Quill, your ship is filthy.” She finally turned and walked up the stairs.
Once gone, Peter smirked. “Oh, she has no idea. If I had a black light, this place could look like a Jackson Pollock painting.”
”Jesus…” Crimson muttered, staring at him with disgust.
”You got issues, Quill,” Rocket said, shaking his head.
*ೃ༄
Rock music played in the background on the ship as they drifted through the night sky. Crimson still didn’t quite understand this concept, but the songs distracted her from her thoughts, so they weren’t the worst. Quill stood in the middle of the room playing with his blasters. Crimson sat in a chair again, upstairs, this time by the front of the ship by the controls and next to Rocket. She had learned how to fly one at the age of eleven, as it had been part of her planet’s rigorous training programs that all youth had to go through. While in her teens, she had practiced more with her friend, Heidi, and helped teach her how to fly as well. Now, she was just as good as a fighter pilot.
“Heads up! We’re inbound,” Rocket called.
Quill dropped his blasters down onto the table again. He walked upstairs, which led straight forward into all of the drivers seats and a large window that displayed space.
Outside were colors of all assortments, greens, blues, and oranges, and in the very distance, a huge skull.
She stared into the gaping eye sockets, which emitted a light.
“Whoa,” Quill whispered. He leaned on the chairs.
“What is it?” Drax asked.
”It’s called Knowhere,” Gamora responded as the ship raced towards the skull. The looming shape grew. “The severed head of an ancient celestial being. Be wary headed in, rodent. There are no regulations whatsoever here.” Gamora sat down in one of the seats behind them.
”Damn,” Crimson muttered under her breath as they entered through an eye hole. The entity still had some sort of a powerful control over her, despite the fact that it was long dead and rotted. It felt commanding, in a way.
However, as soon as they entered, it was chaos.
Cities, buildings, lights everywhere. There were pipes and other supporting structures ensuring that the skull didn’t collapse on itself, but also proving the buildings a place to hang on.
A realization dawned as a nostalgic feeling surrounded her, the city atmosphere reminding her of her old home. “Heidi has been residing here, I think.” She felt dazed.
“Who’s Heidi?” Rocket asked, spitting out her name like a sour taste in his mouth.
She glanced at him. He seemed focused on steering the ship inside. “An old friend. She’s been staying on Terra for a while, but decided to leave for a bit. We were meant to meet up. But of course, I got caught while trying to get that Orb.”
”Huh,” he responded. Despite the short answer, his tone seemed considering. She narrowed her eyes at him, suspicion crowding her.
They entered the main section of the skull. Structures branching down and up from the base of the skull were covered by buildings or machines, more ships whizzing by the Milano without a care. Small robotic drones, these a different style than the ones in the Kyln, carved at the rocks.
The ship landed near a port that allowed them too, for what they considered a “small fee.” Once departed, the group began to walk down the busy, crowded streets. Anyone who wasn’t suited for this type of environment could easily panic, get lost, and find themselves in danger.
“Hundreds of years ago, the Tivan Group sent workers in to mine the organic matter within the skull. Bone, brain tissue, spinal fluid. All rare resources, highly valued in black markets across the galaxy. It’s dangerous and illegal work, suitable only for outlaws,” Gamora explained.
Quill walked anxiously next to Gamora. “Well, I come from a planet of outlaws. Billy the Kid, Bonnie and Clyde, John Stamos.”
Crimson studied the area around her. It reminded her greatly of home, with the many small booths, some selling usual produce and homemade clothing and accessories, others containing unique drinks- likely alcoholic- and drugs. Strange species which she did not recognize walked down as well, lost in conversation with friends, or hurrying to wherever they needed to go next. She took a deep breath in, allowing the peace that the environment provided for her to flow through her being.
”It sounds like a place, which I would like to visit,” Drax said, walking not far from her, interrupting her train of thought. He seemed confident as he walked through the street with long strides.
“Yeah, you should,” Peter said with a sly smile and a nod of his head.
A group of children ran up to them. Beggars. Her heart sunk as she saw them, imagining herself in their places, which she could do too easily due to her young teenage years. However, she knew these tricks.
“Excuse me, can you spare any units?” they asked, using their childlike appearances to guilt trip the group.
“Watch your wallets,” Crimson said, staring at the children with a pressure in her chest.
She watched Groot hold out his hand to a younger girl. From his palm grew a small flower, the petals white. He plucked it from his hand and extended his arm to her. She took it, staring at it with a small smile.
"Get out of here," Peter said, beginning to lead the group away. Groot followed behind.
They walked down the busy street for a while. She took in the atmosphere, understanding that she wouldn't be in a place so close to her home in a while. They approached a building with flashing lights, clearly some sort of bar trying to get the attention of passerby's.
"You're buyers in there?" Rocket asked, pointing at the building.
"We are to wait here for his representative," Gamora responded.
"Get out of here!" a man, clearly an employee of the building, yelled, throwing another man out into the street. He toppled over on himself as he was pushed.
"This is no respectable establishment!" Drax replied sternly. "What do you expect us to do while we wait?"
Crimson pulled her lips into a tight-lipped smile, knowing right where this night would be headed.
The group walked into the wide-open doorway, despite the colorful atmosphere outside, the interior was mainly blues, created from the dimmed lights reflecting off the metal surrounding almost the entire building. She made her way over to the bar, greatly unamused by the hyped atmosphere- at least without a few drinks in her. Once she sat down in a stool, the stranger next to her caught her eye. Almost completely white skin, white hair- styled into a curled bob. The stranger turned her head, allowing Crimson to view her face. Light blue lines, starting at her nose, moved down her face. Spiraling pale blue in her white eyes, a small black pupil in the middle. She was outfitted in completely black clothing, at least one article leather, like Crimson. Heidi.
"Heidi?" she shrieked, her voice a higher pitch than intended.
She turned her head to face her, recognition in Heidi's eyes instantly. "Crimson? Girl, where have you been? I haven't seen you in forever! You didn't show up, so I headed here."
"Oh, that's a whole story. Xandar, that place I was hiding at for, like, a week?" She replied, waiting for Heidi to nod to continue. "I got caught up trying to steal something from some bounty hunters, a thief, and Gamora. We ended up getting arrested and then this talking 'Raccoon' helped us escape- well, lead the escape, and we ended up here, trying to sell that thing I was initially trying to steal."
"Sorry- you got caught? You actually went to jail?”
"Mhm. Nova Corps caught our asses."
Heidi's jaw eyes widened. "Where are they?"
"Somewhere around the bar," she said, taking the drink that slid across the table toward her, picking it up and swirling it around before taking a sip.
Heidi turned, looking. "Damn, it got crowded. Can't see shit."
After spending far too much money on the drinks she ordered, she walked over to a large metal table with two mechanical fans on either side. Crimson pushed through the crowd surrounding the table to squeeze in between Rocket and some other random alien. Her hand carried a drink, in the other, money to bet. The group cheered loudly, or booed, as a strange blue creature chased multiple Orlonis.
"Yes! Yes!" Drax yelled, fist in air.
"Whoa!" another yelled.
The creature caught the Orloni it was chasing by its tail, hauling it into its jaw and devouring it.
"Finally!" Crimson cheered.
In the corner of her eye, she saw Groot, slightly shocked at the sight. A frown formed on his face.
"Yahoo!" Rocket yelled, cheering his drink in celebration.
The creature caught up to the last Orloni, throwing it in the air by its tail and catching it, swallowing with ease.
Drax spread his arms. "My Orloni had won, as I won at all things! Now let's put more of this liquid into out bodies."
"That's the first thing you said that wasn't bat-shit crazy!" Rocket exclaimed, spilling his drink a bit.
"I have to agree," she said, taking another sip.
She glanced outside, where the balcony overlooked the outside of the galaxy. She saw Gamora and Quill- Gamora with his strange hat on, almost kissing. At the last moment, she whipped around, putting a knife to his throat. Crimson laughed.
"Hey!" she heard Rocket yell, bringing her back to reality.
She turned to see a group that had formed, with her in front, a perfect view of the argument. Drax and Rocket yelled at each other- but over the chattering and instigating of the crowd, she could barely hear what they said. She blinked, and suddenly, Groot was on the floor, Drax pounding at his head with his fists. Groot's head pushed back and forth with a strange crunch with every hit landing. Groot grew vines around Drax's neck with a yell. He reached up, grabbing the roots, struggling for a moment, then ripping them practically in half. Rocked pulled his gun onto his shoulder drunkenly, the weight swaying under his arms.
"Hey! Enough!" she yelled, stepping forward, her voice louder than the crowd's cheering commotion. Her loud shout must had gotten Quill's attention, since her began to make his way over to the surrounding circle.
Gamora got there first, reaching onto one of Drax's arms and heaving him off of Groot with Crimson's help. She stepped away once he was up, standing closer to Rocket, trusting that Gamora could handle holding him back.
The blaster that Rocket was holder extended a few more barrels, the loud noise of the powering up loud over the crowd's shouts. Crimson walked closer, putting her hands up.
Quill lunged forward with his hands up as well. "Whoa, whoa whoa! What are you doing?"
Drax answered for Rocket. "This vermin speaks of affairs he knows nothing about!"
"That is true!" Rocket yelled back.
"He has no respect!" Drax shouted.
"That is also true!" Rocket yelled stubbornly.
"Hold on! Hold on!" Quill interjected, his hands still up,
Rocket ignored him. "Keep calling me vermin, tough guy!"
Groot stood slowly, rubbing his chin with one hand, taking in the scene in front of him.
"You just wanna laugh at me like everybody else!" Rocket shouted, waving the gun around dangerously.
Crimson's heart sunk, however, she didn't understand why. She felt an urge to take a course of action she didn't understand.
Quill answered faster than she could. "Rocket, you're drunk, all right? No one's laughing at you."
"He thinks I'm some stupid thing! He does!" Rocket yelled at Quill, his voice cracking. The crowd quieted down. "Well, I didn't ask to get made! I didn't ask to be torn apart, and put back together over and over and turned into some..." he paused for a moment, inhaling a sharp breath. "Some little monster!"
"You're not a monster, Rocket," Crimson said solemnly, her chest hammering with a strong pressure as if she had the wind knocked out of her, a sadness crawling up her throat and making her stomach ache, her throat dry with an emotion which she didn't understand. She rubbed her neck softly. How could she feel this way for another?
He glanced at her shortly, not responding, but long enough that she could see
"Rocket, no one's calling you a monster," Quill backed her up.
Rocked turned to him. "He called me 'vermin!'" he yelled, pointing to Drax. "She called me 'rodent!'" he pointed to Gamora, heaving the blaster back onto his shoulder.
Crimson shot a sharp glare toward them impulsively. She turned back to Rocket.
"Let's see if you can laugh after five or six shots to your frickin' face!" he finished, the noise of the gun powering up rang loud once more.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, no, no, no!" Crimson yelled, jumping between the two groups with her hands up the same time as Quill.
"Four billion units! Rocket!" Quill stepped in. "Come on, man! Hey! Suck it up for one more lousy night and you're rich."
Rocket hesitated, lowering the gun slightly, his gaze moving to the floor as he considered. The group all turned to look at him. After a long moment, he lowered the blaster completely, the noise of it powering down sounding like a sigh of relief. He didn't stop looking at the floor.
"Fine," he said finally. "But I can't promise, when all of this is over I'm not gonna kill every last one of you jerks."
"See? This is why none of you have any friends!" Quill yelled. "Five seconds after you meet somebody you're already trying to kill them!"
"Oh, like you have so many?" Crimson snapped back.
"I-" Quill began, a finger pointed at her.
"We have travelled halfway across the quadrant," Drax interrupted. "And Ronan is no closer to being dead."
Drax pushed away from Gamora, turning around and stalking out of the bar, pushing a few citizens out of the way in the process. Crimson's tangled feelings didn't leave, along with the strange effect of her eyes, unable to focus completely on an object, the tightness in her chest unmoving. She shook her head as if to shake out the racing thoughts.
"Drax!" Quill called after him.
Gamora turned to Quill. "Let him go. We don't need him."
Groot waved a dismissive hand at Drax as his left with an annoyed grunt.
Crimson stood, her breathing still strangely fast, the sadness held in her heart joined with confusion and fear. She blinked tightly. The only other time she had felt like this was when she had been fleeing her planet on the ship she had taken. She glanced up to see Heidi, her arms gestured to the group, a look of disappointment and confusion on her face. Crimson rolled her eyes, shrugged, and cross her arms, taking a deep breath in.
The mechanical doors suddenly opened behind Rocket, who jumped and aimed the gun to the doorway. A violently pink girl stepped out with a short white dress on, holographic boots, and curled pigtails. She held her arms out in front of her with perfect posture. Crimson could feel her face contort into a frown and a raised brow as she judged the girl for her childish and wide, blank eyes, though she appeared to be a grown adult.
"Milady Gamora," she said, her tone light and airy yet deadpanned. The girl turned into a dramatic flourish towards the doorway. "I'm here to fetch you for my master."
The group began toward the doorway. "Fetch? Master?" she whispered to Quill, who merely shrugged with a small frown, as if puzzled himself. She turned forward again.
They walked down the metal hallways, silent, the tension from a few moments prior still apparent. The farther they got, the colder they became. She glanced behind her, wondering how far they had walked already, and if this buyer was willing to compensate for their long travels. Another million couldn't hurt too bad. Once they reached another large doorway the pink girl gestured toward it dramatically once again, waiting until the group was inside to hurry inside and back to the front, the door closing quickly behind her.
They reached a large room illuminated by an eerie pale blue light. As far as she could see suspended floating glass boxes, inside, sculptures, statues, or other objects and planets, which led as far as she could see, unending. The ones closest to the ground appeared to hold living creatures, watching the group as they entered with pleading eyes. The entire situation put her at a sense of unease and urgency to leave immediately. And snatch something on the way out.
"Ohkay, this isn't creepy at all," Rocket stated, his eyes locked to the enclosures above as a few shrill animal calls echoed through the endless room.
The pink her took that as a sign to begin speaking again. Crimson groaned, already growing tired with her bland personality. "We house the galaxy's largest collection of fauna, relics, and species of all manner." Her arms remained in front of her politely, like a server at a restaurant far too expensive for her to eat at or a king's servant. It was frankly off-putting.
They passed a box containing a Terran dog wearing a small spacesuit. It growled at Rocket as he passed, who snarled back. They climbed a few shorter sets of stairs, shoes clanking against the metal walkway. Ahead was a clearing, a table in the middle which held trinkets and useless junk. Another held a statue and what could be considered priceless items mixed with small mechanicals pieces and parts, another table adorned with similar items. She glanced around, immediately spotting which items would most likely be at the highest values.
The pink girl approached the clearing, turning suddenly and facing them with a small smile and eyes that seemed as if there were nothing behind them, not a soul. She opened her arms with a dramatic flourish. "I present to you, Taneleer Tivan, The Collector," she said, leading to a deep bow, her head down.
A strange man with white hair stuck up using gel and black goggles that made his eyes stick out almost like a toad's turned around, the eloquent fur robe he was wearing brushing the ground as he moved. He studied the group for a moment before removing the goggles, revealing heavy-set eyes that were heavily powdered with a black eyeshadow. There was a small black line on his bottom lip- possibly a tattoo. The group walked into the clearing, surrounding the tables.
The man walked to Gamora, taking her hand and placing a kiss on it. She stared at him with disinterest. "Oh, my dear Gamora. How wonderful to meet in the flesh," he stated slowly, his words dragged out an abnormal amount.
Crimson saw Quill bristle beside her. She stifled a laugh.
"He seems high," she whispered.
"Let's bypass the formalities, Tivan. We have what we discussed," Gamora replied sternly.
However, something else appeared to have caught his eye. He slowly raised his head, staring directly at Groot. "What is that thing there?" he asked.
"I am Groot," Groot responded plainly.
Tivan began to stalk his way over to Groot, passing Gamora, who watched him. Rocket stared up at him angrily as he walked by him.
"I never thought I'd meet a Groot," Tivan stated, standing up taller to try and reach Groot's height, which was impossible. "Sir... You must allow me to pay you now so that I may own your carcass. At the moment of your death, of course."
Groot seemed to consider for a moment. "I am Groot."
"Why, so he can turn you into a frickin' chair?" Rocket spat.
"That's your pet?" Tivan asked, not bothering to glance at him.
Peter appeared stunned for a moment, shaking his head,
"His what?!" Rocket yelled.
"Tivan-" Gamora began. Tivan turned away with uninterest.
"And you," he turned to Crimson. "One of the last of the Valani, I assume? Hm."
"Tivan," Gamora said again, her voice stern. "We have been halfway across the galaxy, retrieving this Orb."
"Very well, then," Tivan said, his voice gravelly. “Let us see what you brought.”
There was a small silence before Quill reached into his bag to grab the Orb. He held it out to him, before dropping it. He grabbed it quickly and held it out again.
Tivan stalked over to him. “Beautiful.”
The Collector snatched it from Quill’s hand and let the group over to one of the tables in the clearing. The group followed, gathering around. Rocket stood next to Tivan, his expression bored and uninterested.
“Oh, my new friends,” Tivan said, glaring around the room at them. “Before creation itself, there were six singularities.”
Purple circles appeared around them as Tivan cranked something next to where he placed the Orb, a bright light shining above the holographs and exploding into the other purple circles, as if they were windows into another world. She startled, glancing around.
“Then the universe exploded into existence, and the remnants of these systems were forged into concentrated ingots,” he continued.
Small galaxies appeared in the purple circles. From these galaxies formed other images, the ingots, mathematical equations, and maps. The Orb opened, revealed a small, purple ingot.
”Infinity stones.”
She stared into the purple stone, which held a sort of power around the room. There was a soft glow that appeared from the stone, yet bright at the same time.
“These stones, it seems, can only be brandished by beings of extraordinary strength,” Tivan continued.
Rocket sighed, rolling his eyes, and slumping against the table.
”Observe,” Tivan said, drawing their attention to one of the purple holograph windows.
A large robot creature towered over a civilization wielding a large staff with the purple ingot in the center. It slammed the ingot down, a purple cloud or haze of some sort covering the entire screen, only the screams of the citizens left behind, ringing in the air.
“These carriers can use the Stone to mow down entire civilizations like wheat in a field,” Tivan claimed.
The image changed to the planet. A purple glow centered from where the being had stood, branching out as a purple light and flaking away the planet.
Quill stared at the image in disbelief. “There’s a little pee coming out of me right now.”
”Once, for a moment, a group was able to share the energy amongst themselves, but even they were quickly destroyed by it,” Tivan ignored Quill. The image changed to a group of people in large black cloaks with hoods covering their faces standing in a circle. The purple cloud covered them as well.
The Orb continued opening, completely revealing the ingot. Tivan jolted his arms down and gestured to the glowing ingot.
“Beautiful,” he said softly. “Beyond compare.”
”Blah, blah, blah,” Rocket said bordely. “We’re all very fascinated, whitey,” he copied the arm movement, “but we’d like to get paid.”
Tivan paused for a moment. “How would you like to get paid?”
“What do you think, fancy man? Units!” Rocket yelled.
No one in the group noticed at the pink girl began to walk slowly toward the Stone.
”Very well, then,” Tivan said, opening a drawer on the desk.
Crimson saw her. “Hey, hey! No.”
This caught ativan’s attention, who looked up to see her walking closer.
“Carina,” he warned. “Stand back.”
Carina stared to him, a glare of pure hatred in her eyes.
“I will no longer be your slave!” Carina yelled, reaching forward and grabbing ahold of the Stone.
”No!” Tivan yelled, leaping to stop her.
However, she reached it before he could. A large blast coursed through the room with impact, blasting everyone back. Sparks flew and glass exploded. All of the containments opened.
Crimson steadied herself in time to see the purple glow running up Carina’s arm like blood rushing through her veins. Her skin was flaking off like nothing, underneath, a strong purple glow as well.
Carina screamed, a shrill, painful sound, sharp enough to break glass itself.
Crimson covered her ears, her heightened senses making the noise much louder for her than the others.
Everything began to explode now, purple fire catching in some areas of the room. Crimson saw Rocket take cover close to the ground, crawling in an attempt to get away. Groot got to them right after, grabbing Rocket in one arm and gesturing for Crimson to follow him with a wave of his arm.
They sprinted out of the room, sparks and loud booms following after them. Carina’s shrill shriek continued, her body unmoving. Crimson’s mind latched onto the image of her without falter. However, her legs continued pounding against the metal flooring in a rush to leave.
One final explosion could be heard behind them, much larger than any of the others. Everything shattered, purple flames rushing out. Groot burst through the glass window first, with Crimson right after, them both tumbling out onto the ground outside, propelled by the force of the explosion. Groot sheltered Rocket.
Everything seemed dark and black for a moment. Silent, the only noise remnants that of the explosion. Until Crimson jolted up, remembering the rest inside. She could feel the ash and grime on her skin, her hair frizzy and dusty. More sparks flew.
Then she remembered Groot and Rocket. “Everyone okay?” she called.
Groot sat up from the rubble. Dust and rockets fell off him. “I am Groot,” he said.
”Yeah, yeah, I’m fine,” Rocket responded after a long hesitation.
The dog from earlier trotted out from the same doorway they had burst out of previously. Gamora and Quill followed close behind.
“How could I think Tivan could obtain whatever was within the Orb?” Gamora asked, her tone slightly panicked. She held the Orb in one hand, extending it as if it would open at any moment.
Rocket ran up. “What do you still have it for?” he practically shrieked, his tone high.
Crimson’s eyes widened, following behind. “Get rid of it!”
“What are we gonna do, leave it in there?” Quill asked.
”Uh, yeah! And get paid while we’re at it!” Crimson yelled back.
”I can’t believe you had that in your purse!” Rocket yelled, pointing at Quill’s bag, his voice still high.
“It’s not a purse, it’s a knapsack!” Quill yelled back defensively.
Gamora interjected, “We have to bring this to the Nova Corps. There’s a chance they can contain it.”
”What happened to getting away from Thanos and Ronan?” Crimson asked.
”I’ll find another way,” Gamora responded solemnly, her tone low and regretful.
“Are you kidding me? Were wanted by the Nova Corps. Just give it to Ronan!” Rocket yelled.
“So he can destroy the galaxy?” Quill snapped back.
Rocket stepped closer. “What are you, some saint all of a sudden? What has the galaxy ever done for you? Why would you wanna save it?”
”Because I’m one of the idiots who lives in it!” Quill shouted back.
Gamora turned to him. “Peter, listen to me. We cannot allow the Stone to fall into Ronan’s hands. We have to go back to your ship, and deliver it to Nova.”
”Right, right, okay, I think you’re right,” Quill responded. “Or, we could give it somebody who’s not going to arrest us, who’s really nice, for a whole lot of money. I think it’s a really good balance between both your points of view.”
Crimson nodded.
This seemed to be Gamora’s last straw. “You’re despicable. Dishonorable. Faithless!” she shouted.
She began to storm away, before stopping dead in her tracks. A loud whirring noise sounded through the entire area, chilling Crimson’s spine.
“Oh, no,” she whispered, turning around to see Drax with his arms extended, two knives in the air.
”At last!” he shouted, laughing. “I shall meet my foe and destroy him.”
In front of the group approached a large fleet of smaller ships. Not Nova Corps, though. Ronan.
”You called Ronan?” Quill yelled, stepping closer to Drax.
The ships swarmed closer, slowing and preparing to land.