Spy Games Ch. 19

Guardians of the Galaxy

(En route to Knowhere)

"Master, our cargo is secured."

I looked up from the screen I'd been reading and smile at Nebula as she slinks up to me. She's wearing ravager clothing now on my order, and I do like the look of her better in the leather-like material then in that get up I'd met her in, "Wonderful. Now that you've had a chance to go through things, what's your estimate on the value of the things we took with us?"

She slides up and settles herself halfway on the arm of the captain's chair as I bring an arm up to rest around her waist possessively, petting her leg lightly as she speaks, "There's close to fifty thousand in physical units, most of which came out of the safe that you tore open. Of course, given our limitations we weren't able to take everything we found, but the drugs were compact and plentiful. I would say that those alone should net us somewhere in the higher hundreds of thousands of units, possibly up to a million if we find the right buyer."

I smile, "Well, there are certain parties on Knowhere that might be interested. Now, we'll arrive there in the next few hours, so it's time for some ground rules."

Nebula slides off of the arm of the chair at that and moves to her knees, resting her head in my lap like a needy feline. I grin and brush my hand over her head as she looks up at me, "I'm listening Master."

"Well first of all, in public you should address me as Captain or sir. We're masquerading as ravagers for the time being darling. Second, do you believe you'll be recognized by anyone on Knowhere?"

Nebula shakes her head at that, also using the moment to nuzzle my crotch before answering me, "No Master, you've remade me, healed me. I doubt I could still be tied to any of my wanted posters."

I raise an eyebrow, "And your sister, Gamorra?"

That gets Nebula's attention, her face momentarily turning into an angry snarl at the thought. Then, she considers it and answers honestly, "She may recognize me. She knew me before the augments… before the loss of my arm. Then again, she may ignore the feeling of recognition if she cannot believe I've been healed. Is Gamorra on Knowhere Master? She was supposed to go to Xandar for the orb."

"She should show up eventually, hopefully within a week of our arrival. She'll have companions and the orb with her, and that's when we'll move in. Ronan will be there too and he'll also have to be dealt with."

Nebula lets out a low moan as she continues to nuzzle my crotch, "Yes Master. Ronan is no match for you. Watching you annihilate him will be a pleasure."

I chuckle at that, "It may not be me who faces him my dear. I've gifted you with a piece of my power and you're much stronger and faster than him now. That said you must train to become more used to your new abilities. Go and do so now. If you make excellent progress by the time we arrive at Knowhere I may give you a reward."

She pouts as I push her firmly away from my crotch but she doesn't argue, standing up instead and making sure to add extra sway to her hips as she departs from the cockpit to do as I've ordered. I watch her go with a light smile. I'm going to fuck her senseless no matter how much progress she makes, but something tells me Nebula is a fast learner and will meet my expectations anyways.

XxScenebreakxX

Guardians of the Galaxy

(Knowhere)

Settled back into the corner of the Boot of Jemiah, I watched the rowdy crowd as they cheered and jeered over the Orloni fights happening in the center of the establishment. I just smiled and sipped my drink. Alcoholic in nature, I'd been right to assume they wouldn't have blood here and had taken time to drink from Nebula before departing from the ship.

I still felt the cravings, but the hunger was finally back to the levels I'd felt after turning Jane and Darcy. Manageable, controllable. It felt good to be able to think clearly once again. Now that I was doing so, I turned those thoughts towards my actions on Morag. If I'd been in control would I have killed Korath and the Ravagers and then done what I did to Nebula?

Well, Korath would have died still yes. But I would have forced a ride from Peter if I'd been in my right mind, so I suppose the Ravagers and Nebula would have lived. Nebula probably would have ended up in the same state she's in now though, just later on. She's a beautiful creature, but one who's been shaped by her anger and hatred for far too long.

She was Darth Maul without the loyalty and that turncoat quality made her impossible to ever trust even if convincing her to betray Thanos and Ronan probably would have been child's play. No, this was better. In fact, I'd even argue she was happier now then she'd been before. Even if at the end of the day, she'd just traded one master for another that she'd never escape from.

Smiling, I watch as the subject of my thoughts makes her way through the crowd. She only has to break one grabby wretch's hand before the rest leave her alone and soon enough she drapes herself over the large comfortable couch I'm resting on, partially draping herself over me in the process.

Leaning in, she speaks in a sultry tone, "The sales were made without a problem Captain. Using what you taught me, I was able to get a very good deal out of the worm. You now have a little over a million units."

My eyes continue to watch the other patrons, always vigilant of just how close I was to someone who wanted what I had, but the corners of my mouth quirk up in a small smile as I run a hand down Nebula's side, "Well done love."

Nebula practically purrs at my touch, "So… what now sir?"

I chuckle, "We wait for your sister and her friends. There will be negotiations and they will fail and I will be there to pick up the pieces."

Nebula is a bit focused on something else right now, "Mmm, can we wait on the ship, at least for a bit?"

Her desire is obvious but I have no reason to deny her. The Milano shouldn't show up for a few more days and I wasn't going to stay in this place indefinitely until then. Nodding, I stand up and take her by the hand. A moment later we're both gone from the Boot of Jemiah and headed back towards the ship.

XxScenebreakxX

Two days later

We're actually in our corner when they finally arrive. I'm nursing a new drink and petting Nebula when she stiffens, her eyes drawn to the door as Gamora and Peter step inside with Drax, Rocket, and Groot behind them. I grin as I take in the 'Guardians of the Galaxy' for a moment before leaning in to whisper in Nebula's ear, "Not yet love. Not yet."

She relaxes again and watches with me as they go about their business. Said business seems to be along the lines of getting intoxicated and betting on the Orloni fighting. I note Peter and Gamorra moving out onto the balcony and consider interrupting their moment and just taking the orb. But no, now is not the time.

I could have the orb here and now, but it could come at great cost. I don't want to know what Tivan can bring to bear here, in his place of power, if what he wants so badly is taken from right under his nose. Better to let him hold the prize in his grasp only for it to blow up in his face. As time progresses I watch Drax and Rocket get in a fight with Groot stepping in on Rocket's behalf.

These dysfunctional people are far from the team they could be if they continued down their path without my interference. Unfortunately for them, they'd probably never become the Guardians I knew. They would never become a tight knit team. I was going to be cutting them off at the knees here. An unfortunate but necessary sacrifice to get what I wanted.

Just when things look like they'll escalate even further, Tivan's little pink underling shows up to collect them. Speaking of unfortunate but necessary sacrifices, it is regrettable that she has to die. She's quite the delicious morsel and I'm sure I'd be a better master to her then Tivan. Alas, she is the catalyst that will see her master's place of power destroyed and the Power Stone into my hands.

I watch them all leave and after a few minutes tap Nebula and begin to rise. She does so with me and we make our way out of the Boot. I watch with a smile on my face as Drax goes off to make an important call. Given that I want Ronan to show up on Knowhere, I don't make any attempt to stop him. Instead, Nebula and I settle into a nice spot that gives a good view of the Collector's Museum while still being a decent distance outside the blast radius, and then we wait.

The explosion comes with little fanfare beyond Groot sprinting out with Rocket under his arm. A purple blast of power shakes the entire colony and blows out every window in the Collector's place. It doesn't bring the building down though, which speaks to just how strong those walls are. I'm happy in my choice not to go near it or attract Tivan's attention. Soon enough Peter and Gamora run out of the place as well with the orb in hand and Rocket freaks out, "Why the hell do you still have that thing?!"

They begin to debate the finer points of who they should give the orb to, Gamora wanting to give it to the Nova Corps and the others arguing for still selling it to someone. That debate is stopped when Ronan arrives with a dozen Necrocraft. Smiling, I run a hand down Nebula's back and her skin lights up with lines of red as I empower her.

"Take care of the Necrocraft while Ronan and Drax have their fight darling. I'll deal with the others. Make sure Drax doesn't die."

She's off in an instant, not quite flying but jumping high enough to start tearing apart Necrocraft with each bound as Drax engages Ronan in combat and the others try to flee. Gamora is the first to notice the mining craft, but I'm already between her and it. I smile and compel her as our eyes meet, "Please wait. You have something I want."

She stops dead and her eyes widen as she realizes I've somehow frozen her in place. Stepping forward, I take the orb from her hand and grin widely as I look it over. Rocket reacts poorly to this and a moment later aims his large rifle at me, "Hey! I don't know who the fuck you are but put down the damn orb!"

Peter on the other hand doesn't bother with talking, he just draws his pistols and fires at me, arcs of lighting moving towards me far too slowly. I move to their side in an instant and it takes them several seconds to reorient. By the time they've swung around, I've caught all of their eyes, "Stop attacking me now and wait along with your female friend. Once Ronan is dealt with, we can talk."

"I am Groot!"

The tone is angry as I'm suddenly beset upon by the plant sapient. My compulsion doesn't work on him, not that I expected it to. With a snarl on my face, the Aether slips out of my body and grabs onto Groot in multiple places, pushing him up into the air and holding him there. With Tivan unconscious and his base destroyed I was no longer worried about exposing my cards.

"Do not fight me Groot. I do not wish to tear you apart."

I punctuate this statement by pulling slightly with my Aether tendrils, showing him I can and will tear him to shreds if need be. He settles down in short order and I've officially neutralized the four Guardians in short order. A smile growing on my face, I turn back to the fight. Ronan is dominating Drax easily enough while Nebula has torn through the majority of the Necrocraft that were supposed to be backing Ronan up.

She's been moving too fast for the fanatic Kree to get a good fix on, but it's clear he's tiring of the farce of a battle he's having with Drax, as despite the bigger alien's tenacity, he's clearly outmatched. With a roar, Ronan tosses Drax into a vat of Celestial Spinal Fluid and turns to find me standing with orb in hand.

Nebula has finished dealing with the Necrocraft, and dives in after Drax in order to accomplish my last order to her. As she pulls the coughing battered lug out of the tank Ronan comes to a stop in front of me and holds out a hand, "You! Give me the orb or I will take it from your corpse!"

I hold up the orb for a moment and smile as more of the Aether slips from my fingertips and begins opening the ancient locking mechanism containing the Power stone. Behind me, I hear cries of "No!" and "Don't!" from my captive audience. Ronan's eyes widen as the purple glow shines from within the opening orb and he instinctively moves his Universal Weapon to send a shockwave that will blow it out of my hands.

He's too slow, my free hand closes around the Power Stone before the shockwave can reach me, and instead it is repelled back onto him, pushing him back several feet as I explode in power. My captives are pushed to the ground as well as I hold infinite power in my hands and relish the feeling. In that moment I know without a doubt that if I hadn't had the Aether already, the Power Stone would have destroyed me entirely as it had with others before it.

My body would have disintegrated and there would have been nothing left to regenerate. But constant contact with the Aether had prepared me for this. My body was attuned to one fragment of infinity, and now it was able to sustain another as well. Following the instincts that I was sure the Aether was feeding me, I brought my hand up to my chest and pressed the Power Stone against it.

Burning easily through the clothing I'd taken from Yondu, the stone makes contact with my flesh and I roar as it burns through that as well, entering my body and finding a home within it, held in place by the Aether as it swirled around it and contained it's more self-destructive properties. My skin healed over it, but the stone still glowed beneath it, leaving a glowing purple spot in the center of my chest.

My breathing slowed and the storm of purple energy centered around me finally calmed enough for Ronan to stand from where he'd fallen to a knee at some point during the onslaught. Taking in my form, he snarls and raises his weapon, roaring in defiance despite having to know he's outmatched, "I have not come this far to fail now! Fight me!"

I look at him with disdain and flick a hand dismissively in his direction, "No."

Nebula reacts to my unspoken order and a moment later appears in front of her former superior, electrical baton in hand. With all of the strength of an Aether-empowered Hybrid, she drives it straight into his exposed throat before he can even blink, and out the other side of his armored hood. The force of the blow causes him to release his weapon as he flies back into the dirt, twitching and choking and gurgling for a moment before he lies still.

Nebula pulls her weapon free of the corpse she's made and things finally fall to silence. There's nobody left to fight with Ronan dead and his Necrocraft destroyed. Meanwhile, my audience is completely silent, even Drax who I have yet to compel has just managed to get onto his hands and knees, and is now staring at the dead body of the man who killed his wife and child.

I bring my hands up and examine what I can of my body. Glowing lines of purple energy shine throughout and unlike the Aether I can't seem to easily make them go away. I can only imagine how this has affected my eyes as well, but no matter. A wide grin on my face, I turn back to my captive audience, "Well that's taken care of. Let's have that talk now shall we?"

That's the moment Drax attacks Nebula in a rage for taking his vengeance away from him, only for her to easily pin him to the ground and use the compulsion I'd taught her to force him docile. I smile and nod to her and she brings him along as I direct Peter Quill to take us to the Milano. Everyone is rather cowed and easily brought along, and eventually I stand across from the group of five in the Milano's cargo hold with Nebula at my side.

"Right then, you are all released from my commands. Please do not do anything foolish that would force me to revoke that privilege."

Nebula does the same with Drax but he does not use his new found freedom to attack immediately, instead settling for glowering at my female companion as Rocket is the first to speak up, "What the actual fuck was that?! What the hell just happened?!"

I smile and open my mouth to answer him when Gamora speaks up in a quiet tone, "Nebula?"

She's staring right at her sister, who's looking back with her arms crossed over her chest and a smug grin, "Hello sister." Her tone is a purr as she luxuriates in the feeling of absolute superiority over her biggest rival, the woman who was always one step ahead of her.

Gamora's eyes widen as her suspicion is confirmed, "What has happened to you?"

Nebula just grins wider, "Being sent to Morag was a blessing in disguise Gamora. I found salvation from Thanos. I am free."

That gets Peter's attention as he connects some dots, "Hold on, you went to Morag? And you, you're wearing Yondu's clothing. Oh please don't tell me…"

I chuckle and nod, confirming his fears, "Yes Peter Quill. I'm the creature that saved your life on Morag and gave you the time you needed to escape. And yes, I also killed Yondu and his ravagers, which I suppose means the bounty on your head is defunct thanks to me. You're welcome."

That gets a scoff, "Saved me?! Dude you tore a guy's head off with your teeth! I'm pretty sure if that platoon hadn't distracted you I would have been on the menu!"

Smiling, I shrug my shoulders and don't deny it, "I was in a bad state after entering Morag's atmosphere. The fall was not pleasant and neither was the landing. I'll admit, I wasn't really myself when we first met. Please, don't hold it against me."

He just swallows thickly, probably realizing he just shouted at the guy who consumed an infinity stone right in front of him. I imagine Tivan's history lesson is exceedingly fresh in his mind right now. It's probably fresh in everyone's mind given just how subdued Rocket is when he speaks next, "So what happens now? No clue who you are, but you got what you wanted. And Ronan is dead, so Xandar is probably safe now. Can we just call this done and go?"

"Ah, not just yet. I feel a bit bad just taking your prize from you like I did and as such, I wish to offer you all two things. The first is units, though not nearly as much as the Collector would have offered, Nebula here has managed to liquidate some of Yondu's assets and I can offer you a bit over a million units, to be split between all of you."

Rocket perks up at that and Peter seems interested as well. Gamora is frowning, still staring at Nebula, while Drax scoffs, "I do not want your units. I want my revenge, which your blue whore has taken from me."

My hand immediately touches the back of Nebula's neck and she calms as I stroke it, refraining from eviscerating Drax then and there as I know she wanted to. Smiling at the shirtless muscle bound alien, I answer him, "You would do well not to insult her Drax the Destroyer. As for your revenge, I do believe I can help you with it. After all, Ronan may be dead but he was nothing but a puppet. Your true foe is Thanos."

Drax starts at that, clearly having not considered this but now thinking about it heavily. I continue on, "To that end, I would gift you my power as I have Nebula. You would be immortal and powerful and possibly able to eventually face Thanos to truly avenge your family. You are not yet without purpose Drax. There is still an enemy who needs to be destroyed."

After a long moment Drax nods, "I will accept your gift then. And I will tear Thanos apart with my bare hands."

Still smiling, I shake my head, "You cannot do it alone. You will need help."

Looking to the others, I raise an eyebrow, "I offer the same to each of you as well. No strings attached of course. Immortality and power. The only one I cannot give this gift to is Groot."

That gets Rocket's hackles raised, "Why the hell not?"

Shrugging, I gesture at tree creature easily, "The gift comes in the form of my blood and he is what he is. We are incompatible. That said he is already functionally immortal. He will regrow from the smallest twig even if the rest of his body is destroyed. He is perhaps the only one of you not in need of my gift."

Gamora seems to have come to a conclusion as she crosses her arms over her chest, "I would see this… gift in action."

I raise an eyebrow but shrug and look to Drax. He steps forward readily and I smile, bringing a hand up and tearing open my skin easily. Presenting the bloody wrist to Drax, I order him, "Drink."

With only a moment of hesitation, he takes hold of the offered arm and does so, coughing only slightly as he drinks down my blood until the wound heals. Pulling back, I look pointedly to the weapon sheathed at his waist, "The change will only occur once you die. You will need to kill yourself."

This time he doesn't hesitate even as the others widen their eyes at this new tidbit of information. Drawing one of his blades in a fluid motion, he brings it to his own throat and cuts deep, drawing a thick line across his neck. A moment later he falls to his knees as he chokes on his own blood, and then he's dead, sprawled out across the floor.

Everyone watches with baited breath, but nothing happens of course, the change isn't instant. I just smile, "It will take a bit of time before he comes back. While we wait, shall we see about dividing up the units?"

That gets both Rocket's and Peter's attention and we aren't quite done haggling the split when Drax comes back to life with a gasp. I flash over to him in an instant and feed him a bit more blood to complete the transition. It's a bit flashier this time, as his skin patterns glow a mixture of red and purple and his eyes flash between pitch black and purple pupils before settling down.

I smile as he stands and flexes his hands, "I feel… powerful." And then he's moving fast, his hand closing around Nebula's throat as he slams her into a nearby bulkhead. I'm there before he can do anything more, my own hand closing around his neck and pulling him off of her to slam down into the ground as I look down at him, "Do not presume that this gift gives you leave to attack me and mine Drax the Destroyer. I can take it away just as easily as I have given it, do you understand?"

He stares up at me for a moment before answering, "Yes."

Smiling once more I release him and look to the others, "Well then, I can understand if you still have reservations, but I do wish to head back to Earth now, so let's speed this up. We'll split the units between everyone who wants them, and I'll put my blood in containers for the three of you for whenever you wish to take the plunge."

The first part gets everyone's attention. Peter speaks up, his tone disbelieving, "Wait you're from Earth?!"

I chuckle, "It is my current home, though I arrived there only a few years ago. The little world has grown on me and it seems to be the catalyst for a whole slew of events given just how much has happened there recently. In fact, I reckon Thanos will probably visit it personally quite soon."

Peter lets out an intrigued sound at that, "Huh… well that sounds awful. Think I'll stick to this sector of the galaxy."

Shrugging, I respond with, "Look me up if you change your mind. As for right now, let's get this done with. I assume you three all at least want the choice of using my blood or not?"

Getting affirmative responses from each of them, I go about securing containers for each to have while Nebula splits up the units and transfers the amount to each party's account except for Drax, who still has no desire for it. Eventually everything is dealt with and we're ready to part ways. I watch as Peter offers Gamora, as well as Rocket and Groot a continued spot on the Milano. It's clear he's hoping to keep the team together despite their lack of true cohesion.

Meanwhile Drax walks up to me and speaks bluntly, "I will go with you. If Thanos is going to attack this… Earth as you say, I wish to be there."

I stare at him for a long moment, realizing what my casual comment has just done, before shaking my head, "No. Nope! No room on my ship for ya, sorry!"

His brow begins to furrow and he opens his mouth to question such a claim when I cut him off with a bit of frivolous compulsion, "You are going to stay right here until this ship lands on whatever planet it goes to next."

With that command in place and dawning looks of horror on all of the Guardians' faces as they realize what I've just done, I waggle my fingers goodbye and grab Nebula before getting the hell out of there. I refuse to share my ship with fucking Drax the Destroyer. Especially when I intend to spend the trip back to Earth losing myself in my Luphomoid sex pet to distract myself from thinking about space.

No room for musclebound idiots who take everything as literal as possible, no sir. My thinking is immediately justified when upon arriving back inside my own ship, Nebula immediately jumps me and shoves her tongue down my throat. I only force us to pause long enough to make sure we've launched and the Milano isn't following before I begin to reciprocate.

-x-X-x-

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