Marvel: The Villain

On the Dark Aster, Ronan sat upon his throne, staring out at the vast celestial sea. His mind was consumed by a singular thought: how he would dismantle Xandar once his task was complete. His father, his grandfather, and his great-grandfather had all died at Xandarian hands. This thousand-year blood feud was a tangled knot of history and hatred, and now that it had passed to him, it was finally time to cut it. He would personally crush Xandar, wipe their filthy civilization from existence, and bring a violent, satisfying end to the legacy of his ancestors.

Nebula, daughter of Thanos, strode into the hall. "Thanos’s guard has intel to share," She announced.

Ronan turned slowly. A face suddenly shimmered into view on the projection wall.

"Ronan, you have been betrayed!"

The guard was likely referring to Gamora. Ronan explained dismissively, "Gamora has simply been detained. It is possible she hasn’t secured the Orb yet—"

"No!" The guard barked. "My mole in the Kyln informs me that Gamora has already struck a deal with a woman named Valkyrie. She plans to hand the Orb over to a nobody named Jason Walter. They are set to meet on the planet Morul."

Shock rippled across Ronan’s face. "How can this be?"

The guard’s tone grew severe. "If this transpires, the alliance between you and Thanos is severed. Thanos demands an audience. Now!"

The projection blinked out, leaving Ronan in a heavy silence. Nebula was stunned by the news, but a twisted sense of joy flickered within her. Gamora, that fucker, has betrayed Father. This meant she was now the only daughter left. She couldn’t wait to see the look on her father’s face when he learned the truth—and how he would deal with Gamora.

"Let’s go," Nebula urged, unable to hide her anticipation. "Don’t keep him waiting."

The Sanctuary, the seat of Thanos’s power.

Ronan and Nebula arrived in a small shuttle. At the planet’s highest peak, Thanos sat on his massive throne, overlooking the landscape, his back turned to the approaching pair.

The moment they arrived, an irritable Ronan went on the offensive. "Thanos, with all due respect, your daughter has caused this disaster, yet you summon me? This is absurd."

The guard who had relayed the message stood nearby and barked, "Accuser, lower your voice!"

To Ronan, the guard was a literal nobody. He ignored him entirely. "Gamora lost to a group of savages and then allowed herself to be caught by the Nova Corps. She is as incompetent as she is useless."

The guard said back, "Thanos placed Gamora under your command. Her failure is your responsibility."

Ronan gave him a lethal glance. "And now your spy says she intended to betray us from the start. This matter—"

"I said lower your voice!" The guard roared. "Otherwise, I will—"

Ronan’s brow twitched. He spun his warhammer, Cosmi-Rod. A kinetic shockwave erupted from the head of the hammer. In an instant, the guard’s skull was pulverized. He collapsed to the ground, dead before he hit the floor. Ronan felt much better; the gnat was finally silenced.

Nebula looked up in shock. Ronan was bolder than she thought, killing one of Thanos’s men right in front of him. A move like that was either legendary or suicidal.

Having dealt with the annoyance, Ronan addressed the throne. "My only request is that you handle this situation appropriately."

The throne began to rotate slowly in the air. Thanos’s deep, gravelly voice echoed: "Boy, the only thing I haven’t handled appropriately is you."

Thanos looked down at him with effortless superiority. "Your politics bore me. Your conduct is that of a petulant child. And now, you seek to drive a wedge between me and my favorite daughter."

The words cut Nebula deep. She looked away, shaking her head in a mix of disappointment and resignation. To serve her father’s grand vision, she had been torn apart—her flesh and bone replaced by cold, unfeeling machinery. Yet despite the sacrifice, she was never enough. That woman, Gamora, would always be first in his heart.

But Thanos didn’t care about Nebula’s feelings. To him, she was just a tool. If a tool works, use it. If not, make it work.

"Kree," Thanos said coldly. "I will honor our pact. But I must have the Orb. If you return to me empty-handed again, I will bathe the star-ways in your blood."

Ronan gripped his hammer, his eyes burning with silent fury. He hated being treated this way, but there was nothing he could do. Thanos’s power dwarfed his own; the Titan could kill him as easily as he’d killed the guard. Ronan lowered his head in begrudging submission.

"That sounds fair," Nebula said, suddenly stepping forward. "You can’t win this fight alone. Let’s get moving."

Ronan cast one final, bitter glance at Thanos before he and Nebula left the peak and returned to the Dark Aster.

Back on his own turf and seated on his own throne, Ronan finally regained some composure. He looked at Nebula. "Are we heading to the Kyln?"

The intel placed the Orb there. He knew the Nova Corps’ defenses couldn’t stop him.

Nebula shook her head. "Gamora is planning her breakout tomorrow. If we leave now, we’ll likely miss them."

"Then what’s the plan?"

"The report said they’re heading to Morul to trade with this ’Jason’ character. We don’t chase them. We lie in wait at the jump point they have to pass through. When they appear, we destroy their ship and take the Orb."

Ronan considered the plan for a moment before nodding. "Fine. We move now."

"One more thing," Nebula interrupted. "I have a small request."

"You dare make demands of me?!" Ronan gripped his hammer, his temper flaring again. Your father can lecture me, but you? You’re just a brat.

Nebula quickly raised her hands, calming him. "Ronan, easy. My request benefits both of us."

"Spit it out, then."

"Because of Gamora’s betrayal, we’ve both been humiliated and threatened by Father. I’m used to it, but don’t tell me you aren’t itching for a release for that rage."

"Get to the point!"

Nebula’s voice turned ice-cold. "When we catch Gamora... we kill her on the spot."

Ronan was genuinely surprised. He let out a cynical chuckle. "I knew you two didn’t get along, but I didn’t think you’d be so eager to see her dead. Hmph. Truly a daughter of Thanos."

"Daughter of Thanos?" Nebula spat the words with a hollow laugh. "When we were children, he would make us spar. The loser would be punished. But Gamora always won. Every single time. And every time I lost, Thanos would cut off a piece of me—flesh, bone, organs—and replace them with machines. He said it was to make me her equal. That experience is my greatest nightmare. I wanted her to pity me, to hold back just once... but she never did. My hatred for her grew with every painful upgrade. I swore that one day, I would be the one to end her."

"I’m not interested in your tragic backstory," Ronan interrupted coldly. "If we kill Gamora, how do we answer Thanos?"

"We tell him she died in the crossfire during the ship battle. She’s already a traitor. As long as we deliver the Orb, Father won’t care about the details."

Nebula had lived with Thanos long enough to know him better than anyone. He didn’t care about her or Gamora. He only cared about his grand plan. Anyone who stood in the way would be removed.

"Fine," Ronan agreed after a moment. "Once we have the Orb, I’ll let you kill her with your own hands."

Nebula’s eyes flashed with a dark joy. "Oh... thank you."

*

It was lunchtime. Valkyrie and the others had gathered with their meal trays, huddled together to discuss the escape.

Rocket pointed to the central security tower in the middle of the cell block. "If we want to get out of here, we need to get into that tower. And to get into that tower, we need a few specific items."

He pointed to an officer’s arm. "I need that guard’s security band. It controls the access points."

"Leave that to me," Gamora said with confidence.

"And that guy over there," Rocket said, pointing to a man with a prosthetic left leg. "I need his leg."

"His leg?" Quill asked, confused.

Rocket nodded. "Yeah. Believe me, nothing else on that guy is worth a damn."

"Fine," Quill sighed.

"Finally, behind the tower, there’s a black conduit with yellow lights. See it?"

The group looked over. "Yeah."

"There’s a power battery in there. Purple box, green wires. I need that to override the tower’s systems."

While the rest were focused on Rocket’s explanation, Groot stood up, set down his meal tray, and began walking toward the tower. No one noticed.

"How do we get that battery?" Gamora asked.

Rocket gave a sleazy grin. "Show those bald bastards a little of that daughter of Thanos charm. Shouldn’t be hard."

Gamora glared at him. "Are you fucking with me?"

Rocket waved his hands. "I’m just saying, I heard them talking about how you’ve got a great body."

Quill interjected, "The battery is fifteen meters up in the most heavily guarded spot in the prison. It’s impossible to climb up there without being spotted."

Rocket barked in frustration, "My plan is perfect! We need that battery! Just figure it out and stop bitching!"

Valkyrie spoke up. "If we can’t steal it, we take it. Drax, you’re on battery duty. I’ll clear out the guards who try to get in our way."

Drax nodded. "Consider it done."

Rocket looked at Valkyrie with admiration. "Now that’s what I’m talking about. It’s a pleasure working with someone who has a brain." He shot a look at Quill. "One more thing: the moment that battery is pulled, the prison goes into emergency lockdown. So we wait until the very last step to grab it."

The words had barely left his mouth when they heard a mechanical grind. Groot had already ripped open the conduit cover and yanked the battery out.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

The prison alarms wailed. The main lights cut out, leaving the block in the eerie glow of emergency red lighting. The group turned around, faces frozen in a "you’ve got to be kidding me" expression.

Groot stood there with a goofy grin, proudly holding the battery up like a trophy.

"Oh, for fuck’s sake!" Rocket slapped his forehead in despair. "Well, we’ve got the battery! Forget the plan, just move! Go, go, go!"

Gamora: "I’m getting the band."

Quill: "I’m getting the leg."

Valkyrie spread her arms. "The battery is already out. What are we supposed to do?"

"Kill the guards and keep us alive!" Rocket screamed.

Within seconds, security drones swarmed the cell block, surrounding Groot. A guard’s voice boomed over the intercom: "Inmate, drop the property and return to your cell immediately, or we will open fire!"

Groot, surrounded and unfazed, roared at the drones: "I AM GROOT!"

"Open fire!" The guard commanded.

Rat-tat-tat-tat!

A hail of bullets struck Groot. But his hide was denser and more resilient than any carbon-based lifeform. The bullets left only shallow dimples on his bark; they weren’t lethal. To kill Groot, you’d need fire or cut him apart.

Groot pulled back a fist and smashed a drone into a wall.

BOOM!

The drone sparked and emitted black smoke, completely totaled. The prison was in chaos. Inmates scrambled for cover as bullets flew, many being struck by stray rounds and falling dead.

"Nice work, Groot!" Valkyrie cheered. To her, this adorable tree-man was far more interesting than the rest of these idiots. She sprinted forward, leapt into the air, and punched a drone clean through. With Jason’s energy flowing through her, every strike was as powerful as a cannon blast.

"ARGH!" Drax let out a roar, jumping up to snatch a drone out of the air before using his sheer strength to rip it in two. The two of them were a whirlwind of destruction; in less than a minute, every drone in the block was scrap metal.

Rocket scurried up onto Groot’s shoulder, cursing, "You idiot! I don’t even have a weapon yet! How the hell am I supposed to fight back?!"

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