[2014 – March]
[Xandar – Outskirts]
Roughly one and a half years have passed since I had aquired the Space Stone, which were mostly spent with doing insane training. Breaking my limits, adapting and evolving to wield the unending ocean of power the gem represented.
As such, it was not a particularly hard feat to lock all of Knowhere in space.
It may be an enormous mining colony, but size-wise it measured only a fraction of a planet like Xandar.
And teleporting the Guardians, including Nebula and the Milano, to the grassy plains near my home on Xandar was child's play compared to restricting a whole mining colony, while simultaneously trying to subdue an Infinity Gem and endure its baptism.
The Power Stone felt distinctly different, than the Space Stone already in my possession.
The Space Stone was a well of power too, but with a distinct inclination towards space manipulation and altering, while the Power Stone was as its name suggested pure unadultered energy.
Never in this life or my last had I felt something even remotely comparable.
A slight touch of myself, if not well-controlled, could cause apocalytic damage on a planetary scale easily.
This knowledge, in addition to experiencing the truth of it with my own body and mind, gave me a new impression of why Thanos had destroyed the stones after he succeeded in his plans.
With such overwhelming power, how could it not tempt someone to use it for personal gain? How could it not twist someone's perception, until one felt deserving of all the Universe had to offer?
Fortunately, I already had everything I could wish for and was not a greedy person by nature. My love for Wanda and Silver grounded me in a way that such tempting thoughts were nothing but small clouds in the distant sky – hardly relevant.
Regaining my focus after a momentary introspection, I looked at those before me.
The Guardians were still somewhat shocked by what they had witnessed and it was Nebula that reacted the fastest.
She simply spun around and began to sprint away, as fast as her legs could carry her, though a simple wave of my hand once again locked her in space.
Peter, trying to diffuse the – from his perspective – rapidly devolving situation, spoke up: "Hey man, I don't know who you are, but you obviously came for the Orb. Now that you have the Stone, there is really no need for us to stay any longer, so why don't we just pack our stuff and leave you alone?"
Chuckling a bit, at his characteristical behaviour, I answered lightly: "You do not have to worry about your safety, Peter. You are one of the few people from our shared home planet, that I do not find unbearable to deal with."
I could see his surprise at my word, as I continued: "I did not bring you here to harm any of you, I just thought you could use a ride and maybe an explanation. Ah, that reminds me."
Gripping the air in front of me, I forced the space apart and dragged the figure of Drax the Destroyer through the rift.
He was breathing heavily and was practically bathed in the blood of Sakaarans with some light wounds here and there, mostly burns and cuts.
For the last few minutes he had created mayhem on the Dark Aster, killing the Accuser's crew unceremoniously.
At least that's what Wanda had informed me about telepathically.
I had already teleported the Dark Aster into the orbit around Xandar and destroyed its engines before 'confronting' Ronan.
Wanda and Silver had infiltrated the spaceship and had subdued the crew, while I had gone to deal with Ronan. So Drax had in a way lessened the burden on them by slaughtering a huge number of crewmembers.
The Guardians, happy that one of their own had returned, were about to ask what had happened to him, but my words reached the Kylosian's ears first: "I hope this slaughter has satiated your lust for vengence a bit, Drax."
Still breathing roughly, the forlorn warrior turned towards me, a complicated look in his eyes.
I had taken away his chance at avenging his family with his own hands, which he found hard to accept. I understood that well enough, but it couldn't be helped.
Drax simply wasn't Ronan's match and I hadn't wanted to waste time by giving him the chance for a duel.
After a few seconds, Drax spoke up: "Even though I couldn't rip apart Ronan with my own hands and bath in his blood to assuage the spirit of my loved ones in the afterlife, you still have my gratitude for ending his life. As a father and husband, Ronan's death came many times too swiftly and with too little pain, but as a warrior I understand that only a killed foe is a good foe."
What followed was a nod of acknowledgement, which I returned, as it was a gesture from one warrior to another.
"You are from Earth?", Peter asked, interrupting my moment with Drax, unable to contain his curiosity any longer.
"I am from Sokovia, a small country in eastern Europe. As is my wife.", I answered, before continuing, "Come. Wanda has already prepared dinner for us all, we can speak more while we eat."
I could feel Nebula still struggling against the Space Lock, so I addressed her specifically.
"You too, are invited, Nebula.", I said, as I released her from my hold.
Stepping back cautiously, she answered with forced calmness: "Just let me go."
"Don't you want to get rid of all the machinery in your body? To once again feel and experience life like a normal person?", I asked rethorically, which immediately gained not only her, but everyone's attention.
"You … Who are you? What do you want?", Nebula inquired with a tinge of hope, intermixed with fear in her voice.
"I am Pietro Maximoff, also known as Silverfire, and holder of two Infinity Stones, which makes me the most powerful organism in this Universe. Though I seek nothing less than a peaceful and quiet life for my family. Which unfortunately requires absolute power, considering the amount of megalomaniac tyrants running around this place.", I replied, flaring the energy of both stones, which caused a purplish-blue strom to rage around myself.
What greeted my statement were wide-eyed stares, exclamations of disbelief and audible gulping noises.
…
At the end they all accepted my invitation, even though Nebula's acceptance was mixed with a huge amount of distrust and caution, for which I couldn't really find fault with her.
Introductions and the following dinner went rather well, while Wanda used a bit of magic to clean the dirt form our guests, especially Drax and the atmosphere relaxed gradually.
The relationship between Gamora and Nebula was still very volatile, but with the deterrence I presented, they ceased their arguments for the moment.
Even Rocket, the small furry troublemaker, knew not to antagonise someone controlling two Infinity Stones.
Quill, of course, asked a lot of questions about Earth and the current Pop Culture there, which I couldn't really answer for the most part, but that didn't make the conversation any less enjoyable.
The Guardians, in general, were easy to get along with, especially after I told them that I had their criminal records in the Nova Empire, including Nebula's, wiped clean, as a small favour for drawing Ronan out.
A little white lie, that was well received. And at this point, I had already told them of my deal with the Nova Corps.
Surprising enough, Silver and Drax got along especially well, which was kinda heart-warming, while Penelope tried to use Groot as a chewing toy and scratching post. The – most of the time – gentle giant fortunately didn't take it to heart.
Wanda, on the other hand, showed great interest in Gamora and Nebula.
From the things I had told her, she knew of their history and when she told them of her/our own less than pleasant past, something akin to a seed for friendship bloomed between them.
It was at this point, that I explained to Nebula that it was an easy feat for Silver to undo the modifications on her body with the Reality Stone.
The fact that another Infinity Stone was held by my daugther, once again caused them immense shock, as they had seen first-hand the power that was necessary to subdue those ancient ingots.
Nebula was struggling for a moment, but at the end she refused, explaining that she first had to kill the one responsible for her current state, before she would be ready to give up the enhancements.
I could understand her point, even though I planned to kill Thanos myself in a few days, which I didn't tell her. Instead I told her, that this offer would stand indefinitely.
As evening slowly turned to night, the Guradians went to sleep in the Milano with the goal of leaving early in the morning.
On the way out Rocket stole some silverware, which promptly vanished into dark blue smoke, as soon as he stuffed it into his bag and gave him quite the scare.
While chatting earlier I had also advised them to form a team and work as mercenaries. I even offered to put in a good word for them with the Nova Corps and maybe get them some assignments, though I didn't know if they would follow my advice.
I liked the original Guardians very much, but without the hardships that they went through to take down Ronan, the group wasn't as connected as in the original timeline.
I knew there was no point in forcing them, but I hoped that they would come to see each other as family once again.
Gamora and Nebula had taken a small walk after dinner and seemed to have resolved some of their differences, though I guessed that there was still some work to be done.
They both had taken my offer to teleport them to the nearest city and were thus off on their shared path to vengence.
This had also confirmed my earlier thoughts and was evidence enough to show that it wouldn't be easy for the Guardians to form anew this time around.