Chapter Four
"Listen! I couldn't care less whether you live or whether you die." Quill Claimed.
"Then why stop the big guy?" Gamora snapped.
"Simple really." Percy said, "He wants to sell the Orb. You know where to do so." Percy had no plans on letting that happen, but they didn't know that. "As for me, well that Orb is dangerous. Letting it loose will destroy the balance of the universe. And seeing as it's my job to keep that, I can't let Ronan or Thanos get their hands on it. I just want to know why you want it." It was clear that Gamora had more than a few reservations about her adoptive father in fact it seemed like she absolutely hated him. That could work in Percy's favor.
Gamora chose not to acknowledge Percy's statement for the time being. "How are we gonna sell it when we and it are still here?"
Quill smirked "My friend Rocket, here, has escaped 22 prisons. And surely, you've heard of the elusive Nova Storm, Jackson here has never met a prison strong enough to hold him."
Gamora side eyes them both "We're getting out. And then we're headed straight to Yondu to retrieve your bounty, the both of you." Rocket threatened Quill and Percy.
Percy waved him off and ripped the power dampener off leaving behind a bloody mess, "Ugh I hate these things." He groaned, rubbing his neck where the collar was attached and immediately the blood and wounds were gone. The other three looked at him like he was insane. Power dampeners were incredibly hard to come by and 100% fool proof. The fact that this average looking twenty something year old was able to just rip it from his neck pulling flesh off along with it and just complain was quite disturbing. "I'm only still in here cause I'm tired as hell. I was gonna come back for the orb but if we can get to it without the detour why the hell not."
"How much was your buyer willing to pay you for my Orb?" Quill asked, being sure to remind them who stole it.
After a moment of silence she answered, "five billion units."
"What?"
"Holy shit."
Percy let out a low whistle.
"That Orb is my opportunity to get away from Thanos and Ronan. If you free us, I'll lead you to the buyer directly and I'll split the profit between the four of us. Please." She knew she couldn't beat Percy even if she tried. His skills were talked about across the galaxy. Acts of Heroism and crimes alike were marveled at. Thanos himself praised Percy's ability to destroy ancient civilizations overnight. She just needed to hope he would allow her to sell the damn thing.
The young man sighed and roughly ran his hand across his face. He didn't pay for anything; he didn't need to. Depending on the planet people just gave him stuff in an effort not to be killed. On other planets like Xandar, well after his time at camp he was used to living on the streets. At least this time around he could sleep in his ship. When he crashed the ship was totaled and he used the remains to make his own little hideout. Though Percy didn't have to pay for anything anymore he remembered the struggle of having no money, and he remembered being willing to pay anything to escape his role as a hero. Gamora was really no different; she wanted to escape Thanos, escape her role as an assassin. He groaned, "dammit I hate when people make me sentimental. The last time I cared it got me killed." He grumbled the end, concerning Gamora. "Fine, gah MaD is gonna kill me for this." He made sure his mind was blocked off, so she didn't hear him making this catastrophic deal. "Fine we'll sell the orb I'll see what my.... employer wants me to do from there." they didn't know who MaD was and considering they employed Percy they weren't sure they really wanted to.
"I am Groot," they all looked to the tree man who suddenly appeared.
"Five of us. Asleep for the danger, awake for the money, as per frickin' usual."
~~~
"If we're gonna get out of here, we're gonna need to get into that watchtower. And to do that, I'm gonna need a few things," Rocket explained during their designated lunch time. He looked at Percy, the unsaid statement was obvious, they all needed to get in, Percy couldn't just teleport in. The young man groaned but nodded all the same, "Do you always act like a child," The raccoon sneered.
He shrugged, "what do you want from me? I never got the chance to be one."
He rolled his eyes but continued all the same, "the guards wear security bands to control their ins and outs. I need one."
Percy nodded "I can do that."
A man walked past the group of five, "That dude, there. I need his prosthetic leg."
"His leg?" Quill asked, reasonably confused.
"Yeah. God knows I don't need the rest of him. Look at him, he's useless."
Quill shook his head confused but agreed all the same, "All right."
"And finally, on the wall back there is a black panel. Blinky yellow light. Do you see it?"
The three humanoids nodded, "Yeah."
"There's a quarnyx battery behind it. Purplish box, green wires. To get into that watchtower, I definitely need it."
"How are we supposed to do that?"
"Well, supposably, these bald-bodies find you attractive. So, maybe you could work out some sort of trade."
She gave him an accusatory look, "You must be joking."
"No, I really heard they find you attractive."
"Look, it's 20 feet up in the air, and it's in the middle of the most heavily-guarded part of the prison. It's impossible to get up there without being seen."
Percy looked forward and noticed Groot doing exactly what Rocket needed no problem. Maybe it was because he was already so tall that he wasn't seen. The only one that seemed to really care or notice, (Besides the guy Groot hit in the head with the panel) was Percy's old friend Drax.
"I got one plan, and that plan requires a frickin' quarnyx battery, so figure it out! Can I get back to it? Thanks. Now, this is important. Once the battery is removed, everything is gonna slam into emergency mode. Once we have it, we gotta move quickly, so you definitely need to get that last."
Percy opened his mouth to explain what Groot was doing only for the lights to go down as soon as he ripped it out, "Yea your tree was doing it already."
"Or we could just get it first and improvise," Rocket growled.
"Me and Gamora will get the armband."
"Leg," Quill nodded, getting up quickly.
Dones came flying down the hall towards Groot, encircling him. "Prisoner, drop the device immediately and retreat to your cell, or we will open fire," one of the guards said, talking through a mic.
Groot was getting angrier by the second, more twigs and branches sprouting around his back and shoulders. "I am Groot!"
"Fire!"
Immediately the drones open fire on Groot. He smacks one away making it whirl around uncontrollably, a shower of bullets flying everywhere. "All prisoners return to their sleeping areas."
Gamora and Percy ran down the walkway taking out guards as they went. Gamora somehow managed to clothesline one that looked like he weighed about twice what she did. Percy noticed one aim right for her he jumped off the wall and kicked the guy straight in the head making his gun slide away. Percy picked it up and grinned. He had no need for a gun but they were fun to use sometimes. Gamora took out two guys at once, she knocked out one and wrapped her leg around the other's arm. "I'll need this."
He smirked despite being at her mercy, "good luck. It's internally wired."
"Well then" Percy chuckled, "looks like we're bringing you with us," he shrugged. "At the least part of you." He nodded to the woman who broke the man's arm with just her leg, "Remind me never to get you mad. I think we're going to be very good friends."
She smirked at him, surprisingly she didn't hate the idea. The balance thing bothered her, it reminded her of Thanos, but the stories of Percy Rigel Jackson were very different from those of the mad titan Thanos. Percy wasn't killing meaninglessly; he was taking down actual threats. He was the first person to actually treat her as just that, a person. She had been traded and tortured her whole life, but here was this living legend and he was smiling at her, wanting to know her story, and help her get away from her father. She looked down at Percy as he grabbed the man's arm and ripped the band out flesh and mussel coming with it. He winced as his scream cut through them like nails on a chalkboard. Percy Picked up the gun and aimed effectively silencing him. "You're not too bad yourself," Percy grinned back at her. She reminded him a lot of Thalia, when they weren't trying to kill each other, that is, "Rocket!" he shouted.
The raccoon turned and dropped the gun that was about the size of his body. Percy practically launched It at him, thankfully he caught it no problem. "Move to the watchtower!"
Gamora walked back and jumped at the watch toward the bridge because she was enhanced to was really just like jumping over a crack for her. Percy just blinked and was next to you. She gave him a deadpanned look, "I can't teleport anyone with me," she shook her head and crouched down helping Rocket up who was climbing Groot.
Quill was next with the legs secure between his neck and chin. A done cornered him, before percy could even lift his arm Drax jumped and grabbed it. The bullets did nothing to him, and he seamlessly ripped it in half. "You! Man, who has lain with an Askavariian." Quill sighs and continues climbing, "It was one time, man." Percy shouldn't have been surprised when Drax climbed the tree man as well. He had a score to settle with Ronan and they had a way out.
"We need all available guards in full combat gear-" the guard stopped as an alarm went off. He turned, seeing the six were behind him. He held up his hands in surrender. Gamora simply moved him to the side, but Groot grabbed him with his growing tendrils and threw him from the tower and over the bridge.
Gamora looks at Drax and quickly does a double take, "spare me your foul gaze, woman."
"Why is this one here?"
"We promised him he could stay by your side until he kills your boss. I always keep my promises, when they're to muscle-bound whack-jobs who will kill me if I don't. Here you go," He dropped the leg in front of Rocket.
"Oh I was just kidding about the leg. I just need these two things," he was clearly on the brink of hysterical laughter.
Both Percy and Quill's eyes widened "What?"
"No, I thought it'd be funny. Was it funny? Wait, what did he look like hopping around?"
"I had to transfer him 30,000 units!"
Rocket just snickered, "How are we going to leave?" Drax askes as another drone comes up and shoots the window.
"Well, he's got a plan. Right? Or is that another thing you made up?" Quill snapped.
"I have a plan! I have a plan!"
"Cease your yammering and relieve us from this irksome confinement."
" Yeah, I'll have to agree with the walking thesaurus on that one."
He turned back to Drax who had a glare trained on the terran "Do not ever call me a thesaurus."
Quill nodded, "It's just a metaphor, dude."
Percy shook his head "Kylosians are literal. Metaphors are gonna go over his head. I jokingly once told Camaria to bite me, and she did. She was a strong kid," Percy smiled mournfully. He had saved a lot of planets, but he had failed to save a lot too. Kylosia was the one that hurt him the most though. After he was let loose on the universe he landed there. Drax and Ovette took him in while he was learning to grasp his abilities and gathered some money so he could buy his first ship before the legends of him spread. He only stayed for two years but he came back frequently to babysit. During those times Drax was like a brother, Ovette and sister and Camaria called him Uncle Percy. When Drax was left alone he cut all contact with Percy and got himself thrown in the Klyn.
Drax looked a little sad but kept much of it under wraps in an effort to show no weakness, "Nothing goes over my head. My reflexes are too fast. I would catch it."
"I'm gonna die surrounded by the biggest idiots in the galaxy," Gamora sighed.
Percy chuckled and reloaded the gun he had stolen, "Better than a boring death."
Fully armed guards ran down the hall aiming at the watchtower, "Those are some big guns."
One fired at the window cracking the glass, "Rodent, we are ready for your plan!" Gamora snapped,
"Hold on!" another fired next to Quill.
Percy handed him the gun, "In case we need to lay someone out, aim for the neck, It's the weak spot in their armor."
Rocket worked as fast as he could "I recognize this animal. We'd roast them over a flame pit as children. Their flesh was quite delicious."
"Not helping!" Rocket screamed.
And another fired by Gamora, this one not only cracked the glass but actually made a chip fall out. They were weakening the windows so they could all fire. A moment before the final fire everyone outside the watchtower was floating. "He turned off the artificial gravity, everywhere but in here," she smirked.
He disconnected the top of the watchtower and connected all drones that weren't totally trashed to the bottom of it as a makeshift ship. "I told you I had a plan," Gamora smiled at him. He steers the tower past the doors holding them. The ride was rocky at best. They bounced around, drones falling off the bottom but got far enough that they could lock everyone inside the courtyard.
"That was a pretty good plan." Quill admitted Rocket nodded proudly. He kicked the glass out and they all ran to where the inmate belongings were held. Quill ran to the window looking for his ship in the docking bay. Quill didn't have a long list of crimes and of what he did have none of them were worth a life sentence, he would have gotten out one day. So they picked up his ship with full intention to give it back upon release. "Yeah! There it is. Get my ship. It's the Milano, the orange and blue one over in the corner," he pointed to it.
Percy zoned in on it and nodded, gathering his stuff. He noticed two things were missing "Wait, wait, wait. No, no, no, no, no!" He yelled, kicking the box off the table.
"They crumpled my pants up into a ball." Rocket complained. "That's rude! They folded yours."
Quill rifled through his things, the blasted orb making their appearance. "The Orb's there. Let's go."
"Wait, wait, wait."
"What? What's wrong with both of you?"
"That bastard didn't put it back."
Percy growled, "they took them. Those Assholes took them."
"Put what back? Took what?"
Quill handed her his bag with the orb, "Here. Get them to the ship. I will be right back."
"How are you gonna possibly..."
"Just keep the Milano close by," He noticed Percy already running down the hall. His clothes changed and his bag slung over his shoulder.
~~~
Percy and Quill marched down the hall, Quill shooting everyone he saw. Percy pulled daggers out of holders on his legs, He broke their weapons in two with a single kick, and incapacitated everyone he came across. Percy's moral compass had been skewed in recent years but he already had a long list of murders he was wanted for. He didn't need to triple his life sentence without legitimate reason.
Percy glanced back at Quill as they made theri way through another threshold. He hadn't given the orb to Gamora and rather stole it so they couldn't leave without him. "Please don't throw that around. It's dangerous." Percy said his voice warped and layered from his mask's voice modifier. Quill looked over to Percy, but his expression was hidden under his own mask.
"What's your obsession with it? You just mentioned wanting to hand it over to your employer, with seemingly no pay I might add. I'm not buying the whole 'I am made for balance shtick there's more to it.'"
Percy rolled his eyes unnoticeably, leave it to a Terran to not believe the mythological even if it was staring you in the face and helping you escape space prison. "My employer handles dangerous artifacts and puts them in secure areas around the galaxy, and they're kinda my Parents' siblings," he winced. It wasn't a lie Order did hide dangerous artifacts but if Quill wasn't going to believe what he was blatantly telling him despite all the evidence of Percy being a more advanced Being then he would have to settle for a more realistic approach.
Quill's head snapped to him, "seriously you're doing this because your family told you to!"
"No, I'm doing this to prevent destruction and disaster. My purpose in the galaxy is to keep balance. I keep telling you people that, but no one believes me, I wasn't told to do anything, I can let fate take its course. I'm half made of chaos. I would find joy in the discord. I have no friends to worry about, but I know when something can be a legitimate problem. After we get the money for it, I'm just gonna steal it back and hand it over to them. I don't want people to die. Now shush."
They come up to the office where the guard was still listening to Quill's Walkman. Percy could clearly see his pen on the desk and the man was wearing his necklace, which made the demigod growl. The man looked up at the growl and Quill hit him with the Orb. Percy grabbed his pen off the desk and his necklace off the man's neck "You came back for a pen and a necklace!"
"Oh don't give me that you came back for an outdated music player, from the 80s. News flash it's 2014 on earth now. I'll have you know is all I have left from my life on Terra. Let's go."
Normally Percy would have just teleported onto the ship, but he had no idea what the interior looked like so he had to follow Quill's lead as he flew to it. "These two-show spirit." Drax said as he and Gamora pulled Quill through the hatch "They shall make keen allies in the battle against Ronan." Percy calmed himself from the brief offense of Drax questioning his skills. He had to remind himself that Drax never saw Percy fight for either of their planets, "Companions, what were you retrieving?" Quill pulled out his Walkman and handed it to Drax, upon realizing that it was not a weapon he sighed "You're an imbecile."
Gamora gave Percy a look, "Please tell me what you went back for is more important." He pulled down his collar and fingered his necklace and pulled a pen out of his pocket, "A necklace and a pen." She was fuming. "Seriously you risked all of our lives for a necklace and a pe-" She was cut off as Percy uncapped it and the beautiful bronze sword that he had had for more than half his life revealed itself.
Percy cradled the blade remembering the battles he fought with it, "I was given this when I was 12 of Terra I fought many battles with it and ended many monsters. I've never tried it on a Kree so let's see how loud I can make Ronan scream."
Published: Sep 27, 2021
Updated: Apr 30, 2023