Chapter 337: Escaping Prison

16th May 2013, Klyn Maximum Security Prison, Nova Empire

(Jasmine Sayre POV)

Hela looked at me disbelievingly, "They're just leaving an infinity stone unattended in a place like this? And the idiots want to sell it? A fucking infinity stone, of all things?"

"They have no idea what it is. As far as they're concerned it's just an orb that's worth a lot of money. They don't know that this thing can blow up an entire planet by accident." I drawled back.

"So, they're idiots?"

"They're ignorant, there's a difference. Although this trip does bode well for us. We could get an infinity stone out of it, which would make us have the same number as Entropy."

I looked around and saw Gamora give Rocket a control band. The raccoon smiled and yelled out, "Move to the watchtower."

Well, they seem to have finished their mission, "Let's follow them, shall we?" I told my student.

Hela grumbled as we walked towards the top of the watchtower. Yes, this was far better than staying on Earth. I have to say that space is more exciting than I thought it would be.

We silently followed the gang to the watchtower and watched as Quill knocked out the guard with the prosthetic leg Rocket asked him to get.

Hela and I sat down in the watchtower and kept sipping our tea, while Gamora just noticed Drax's presence, having followed Quill.

She looked towards the human hybrid and asked, "Why is this one here?"

"We promised him that 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." he answered.

He presented the leg to Rocket, who burst into laughter, "You actually got the leg? I was just kidding about the leg."

"You're joking right, I had to pay the guy 30,000 units for it!" Quill responded, outraged.

This seemed to make Rocket laugh even more, "That's even better. Tell me, was he just hopping around without his leg? I wish I could have seen it."

Quill grumbled, "Fine, just start that mad plan of yours."

The still chuckling raccoon answered, "Fine!"

And so, Rocket kept messing with some wiring and Quill started to bicker with Drax, who didn't understand the concept of metaphors. Hela gave me a look, "My lady, why are we entertaining these imbeciles?"

I snorted, "That's an apt description. I suppose I could call it a test. The coming fight will not be an easy one. I need to see if the boy will be able to handle it, before even entertaining the idea of unlocking his heritage."

"And the others?" she questioned.

"They're amusing," I responded. And I almost burst into laughter at the flabbergasted expression on my student's face.

I continued, "There's something wonderful about these people, Hela. There's the monster that wished to atone for her sins, the man that has lost everything and wishes for nothing more than vengeance, two unique partners each lost in the universe, choosing to look around it for a sign of purpose. And finally, the boy that's anchored to the past, that dreams of his home, but is too afraid to face his demons there."

"He's an idiot though?" Hela protested.

"And so was your brother. And yet Thor defeated you, didn't he? But they're not really idiots, they're dreamers, lost in a vast universe."

"I don't see it," my student interjected.

I nodded, "Perhaps, with time, you will."

Our conversation was interrupted by Quill's panicked cry, "Those are some big guns."

He wasn't joking. The prison riot seemed to have ended, with the inmates either in their cells or unconscious. The guards had assembled in the courtyards with what looked like rocket launchers and pointed them at the watchtower.

Rocket was busy working on his escape plan and Quill was practically shitting his pants while mumbling, "We're so gonna die!"

I raised an eyebrow, "No, we won't."

He looked at me, "I forgot you were even here. Why are you drinking tea, how did you even get tea?"

I snorted, "I have my ways. But don't worry, honey, everything is going to be fine."

The commander then started yelling out, "Fire on my command! Three! Two! One! Fire!"

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

When he started firing, I just made telekinetic shields around their barrels and the guns practically exploded when they fired, knocking all of the guards out.

All of our companions stared disbelievingly at the scene and then at me. I looked to my student who had a smug grin on her face. I took another sip of tea and winked at them, "Told you there's nothing to worry about."

Quill's eyes widened, "How the hell did you do that?"

"Oh, Peter, you should know by now that a magician never reveals their secrets. Did you really think that I was doing nothing while all of you were fighting? There's a thing called subtlety. Oh, I believe this belongs to you. One of the guards was using it and I figured it was yours."

I threw him his Walkman. I had summoned it when we were walking the stairs. I sure as hell wasn't going to keep waiting for him to go get it when he would realize that it was stolen by one of the guards.

He stared at the device, "My Walkman?"

I nodded, "I haven't seen one of these for a while. Very old school, kid."

Before he could protest, I continued, "Hey, Rocket, didn't you have a plan to continue?"

"Oh, right," he then kept fiddling with the controls until he removed the artificial gravity of this place, and controlled some of the robots to take us out of there.

We flew into a long corridor towards the inmate storage facilities that contained their stuff. I just modified my clothes to my usual cloak and dark clothes, while Hela conjured her skintight outfit.

Rocket got Quill's ship to be released from the hangar and we all started to make our way to his ship. Hela murmured to me, "What about our ship?"

I nodded to her and sent a telekinetic message to Ego's ship to follow me around and avoid collisions, while staying in stealth mode. It was better to wait for all of this to finish and only use the ship as a way home.

I needed to observe Quill further. It was a shame that his Celestial heritage granted him basic mind shields against telepathy. Sure, I could break them in seconds, but he would notice, and get a migraine. I had no other choice than to observe him to judge his personality, and I was going to use this opportunity to study him. I wasn't going to grant the power of a god to someone who wouldn't deserve it. This was a man, with faults and doubts, not a two-dimensional character. He had his issues and I needed to make sure that he wouldn't misuse such power.

Because this was power that people would kill for, even sacrifice entire worlds for. I was going to be granting him immortality, and the power to shape the universe as he saw fit. So I needed to be certain before accepting him.

All of us left the prison in silence and flew on the Milano – Quill's ship – and left the prison. Hela spoke up, "Well, that was interesting."

Rocket ignored her and looked at Gamora, "So, where's this buyer of yours?"

The green woman hesitated before responding, "Knowhere."

It was a couple of hours later that they arrived at the giant head that made up the colony. Drax looked up in awe and asked, "What is this place?"

"A head of a diseased Celestial, I believe. Probably one that died at Knull's hands during the Celestial wars, considering the decapitation. They seem to be using it as a colony for some reason. It's rather disgusting, to be honest." I responded.

Gamora answered my unasked question, "They're mining the organic matter in the skull. Bone, brain tissue, spinal fluid. They're very valuable across the galaxy."

I shook my head, "No, Celestials don't have organic matter. They're beings of energy, which is why they're so hard to kill. Plus, this stuff would have rotted millions of years ago, if that was the case. No, it's most likely the mechanical resources that they use as avatars. They have a tendency of mimicking life to an extent, but they create the optimum materials to make their bodies. Organic matter tends to be very inefficient, and Celestials very much hate inefficiency. They're pretty much mining a giant robot head, nothing more."

Gamora looked at me, surprised, "How do you know so much about them? The details of the Celestials have been lost to history…"

I shrugged, "It's just something I picked up on the long road that is life."

Gamora was annoyed by her response, "Still, this is a dangerous place where every resident in an outlaw."

Quill responded, "Well, I come from a planet of outlaws. Billy the Kid, Bonnie and Clyde, John Stamos."

He was probably trying to impress the woman or something. Unfortunately for him, I raised an unimpressed eyebrow, "Dude, those are imaginary characters. Did you forget that I'm from Terra too?"

Peter looked down and grumbled. I almost burst into laughter; he was pouting like a child that didn't get what he wanted.

Rocket sighed, "Let's just sell the damn thing and go our different ways. I'm getting sick of you people."

And so, after docking, Gamora went to arrange a meeting with the buyer, while we waited in a pub. Hela was grinning while watching a battle royale of lizards that the others were betting on, "You know, this is a lot more fun that I thought it would be."

I smirked, "I told you that this would be a nice trip to relax. There isn't really any danger to any of us, and all we have to do is watch Quill's personality. As missions go, this is a rather interesting and fun one."

She was right, of course. I needed a place to destress after what happened in the last few months. For all I had the cold logic of a Celestial, I still had some humanity left too. I still wanted to scream and burn the world for the injustice that befell on me. I wanted to break down and destroy things until I'm too exhausted to do so. And for someone of my power that was a dangerous thing.

This trip was a good way of living without expectations, of forgetting about the looming battle and just have fun for a bit. I felt better, but the urge to give in and start destroying things was still there, in the back of my mind. Damn, I didn't know Selene's betrayal had messed me up that much. I was restraining myself as much as possible at all times.

Rocket slowly walked towards me, "I have to ask, lady, why are you still with us?"

I shrugged, "I still haven't found what I'm looking for."

"Please, we both know that your adventure story was crap. Are you after the orb?"

I snorted, "Not especially. While I do know what it is and the damage it could bring, I am after something far more valuable."

"And what is that?"

"Why, Peter Quill, of course!"

Rocket gave me an incredulous look, "Seriously? That guy is worth more than four billion units?"

I shrugged, "Value is in the eyes of the beholder. But even then, Quill is his father's heir, and I am here to decide if he is worthy enough to inherit his position."

"Wait a minute, is Quill's father a king, or something?"

"It doesn't matter really, he's dead, after all."

The raccoon's eyes widened, "I'm sorry for your loss..."

I snorted, "Don't be. He was a monster, and I was the one who killed him."

Before he could comment on my statement, Gamora entered the room, "The meeting is arranged. The buyer is waiting for us…"

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