GoldFinger
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Ch. 187 - Gamora
🕑 Added 2022-04-09 17:58:43 +0000 UTCNonononono.
I paced around the room.
I was sure my forcefield doesn't allow you to just teleport out of them.
Even if the Bifrost is technology and not magic, it shouldn't work.
The only teleportation tech that my forcefield's allow is ....portal tech.
No.
That is such bullshit.
The Bifrost works on the same principle as my portal tech?
Hell no. I do not believe that for one fucking second.
I unleashed my technokinesis and connected to the Bifrost, going over it's workings and while it was a great piece of tech, it did not work on the same principle as portal tech.
Shocker, I know.
I breathed a sigh of relief.
So then the problem must be in my forcefield.
Instinctively, I replicated the forcefield cage I had trapped Thanos in and immediately realized the problem.
My forcefield prevents teleporation inside it. But when I formed his cage, I flipped the forcefield out of habit, because it was easier for me, less math intensive.
Like using a bowl to catch an isnect.
Sure, I could turn it inside out, but that would break the bowl and take much more effort than just flipping the bowl over and catching the insect the normal way.
Which means the outer face of the shield was on him, i.e., the one that doesn't stop teleportation out of it, but rather stops teleporation into it.
Either way, the fuck up is mine and there's nothing to be done about it.
Immediately, I connected to my ship's mainframe and located the nanobots he had breathed in.
Knowhere.
Of course.
The first place he would go to is Knowhere, probably trying to extort the location of the other Stones from Tivan The Collector right about now.
He was a trusted confidant of Asgard, to the point that they trusted him Reality Stone once.
It would make sense if they used his help to hide it the first time around.
And if I was Thanos, that's where I would begin my search.
Well, at least I know where he is now.
I immediately contacted Saraswati.
"Papa?!" She answered the call, eating some ice cream.
I looked behind her and saw star dangling from the freezer, halfway in.
"What did I tell you about raiding the pantry? And Star, Star! That's enough ice cream for you. Put the rest back." I scolded, watching as Star stopped in his tracks, a 10 liter tub of ice cream levitating above his hands.
"Put it back, Star." I repeated.
He looked at me, and made his signature puppy eyes, but to no avail.
I did not budge.
Finally, he pouted and put the ice cream back, as I lovked the fridge doors remotely.
"Now Saraswati, I need you to bring me....this guy. His name is Thanos. Big, purple." I sent her the data I had on Thanos.
"Chin like a ballsack!" She exclaimed.
"Great you read my notes. That makes this easier. He escaped me just now. I'm opening a portal to his location. I have some things to take care of here, so could you be a dear and fetch him for me please?"
"Okay, papa!"
"Can I go too?!" Star perked up.
"No. Star, it's dangerous. You need to stay back. Saraswati, make sure he doesn't go with you. Actually, let me just do that."
A portal opened below star as metallic tentacles grabbed him and dragged him to bed.
"Now go. Quickly, before he escapes again. I'll be there in a minute."
Saraswati nodded and jumped in.
Just to be sure, I sent some nanobots with her, to make sure she doesn't get hurt either.
Maybe she'll even gain more power after absorbing the energy of the Power Stone.
Meanwhile, more importantly, I need to loot the shit out of the royal palace before the crowds get their hands on the neat stuff down here.
Well, most of it can be done by the droids, but the Eternal Flame is something I need to transport personally.
Suddenly, I felt a movement behind me.
Oh right.
There was that too.
I turned around, eyeing the pillars by the throne.
"You can come out now, Gamora."
Yup. Of all the combatants, the only one left alive, was her. Gamora.
She had quietly slunk back as soon as the fight started and hidden away the whole time. Smart decision.
I looked the the pillar she was hiding behind and .... nothing.
I rolled my eyes.
"Gamora, I know you're there. Second pillar from the back. Don't make me come there."
I felt her look around for another exit, her breathing rougher now.
"And don't bother with that. The only way put of here is the main door now." I added.
Finally, she sighed and walked out, shoulders slumped.
I smiled, amused.
"Not going to raise your little knife at me? Threaten me with death?" I asked.
"What would that do? You beat my father. No one has ever done that before. I am no match for you." She sighed.
"Clever girl." I praised, "Now how do you want to die? Boiled? Quartered? Stabbed? Pike up your nether regions and out your mouth?"
Her face paled and she gulped, flipping the dagger in her hand to her neck
"I will just see myself out." She said, when I swung out my forcefield, catching the dagger before she succeeded.
"Holy shit. Learn to take a joke. Seriously, what's wrong with you? I'm not going to kill you." I laughed.
"And how was I supposed to know that? You turned that woman inside out!
And that offer you made her and Ebony! You turned him into a tree!" She replied, exasperated.
"Need I remind you, they were trying to kill me? Which by the way, you were not. I wonder why? What would you have done if your father had won? No doubt he would find you and punish you, or your sister in your stead, per usual." I asked.
"He wouldn't have. You destroyed our fleet. With a look. I saw it." She raised her hand, sporting third degree burns likely from that explosion I caused in front of the palace.
"I knew then. My father stood no chance."
"And yet he escaped. Are you not afraid he will kill you now? Or perhaps sacrifice you to get the soul stone. You haven't told him about it yet, have you?"
"No." She replied.
"No as in you haven't told him or no as in he already has the stone hidden away somewhere?"
"No as in he will never get it. The stone requires the sacrifice of the one you love most. And there is no one thanos loves. Most of all, not me." She glared back at me.
"I wouldn't be so sure~" I smiled, summoning Odin's corpse back to the palace, picking Gungnir off of him.
"No. You're lying." She snapped.
"You probably saw what happened in New York, yes? Then you should know it too. I know the future. All of it."
"Tell me you're lying.....please!" She said, stomping up to me, only to be stopped by my forcefield.
"I'm not. Besides, shouldn't you be happy. You've been chasing after his love, his approval, all these years. Now you know he loves you. You should be over the moon with joy!"
"Do you even know why I wanted his approval? It was the only way I could survive! I was a child. I had no choice! But now? Now he could...he could get the Soul Stone! Don't you understand?" She shivered in realisation, her eyes wide in horror, as she tried to kill herself. Again.
"Sheesh. Again with the suicide." I stopped her.
"What's it to you? Why are you stopping me? You want the stones too, don't you? Wouldn't it be better for you to just kill me, to stop him from ever getting the soul stone?" She cried, struggling against my forcefield.
"Or I could let him sacrifice you and then steal it off of him, thus saving myself the loss of a loved one? Did you not think of that?" I teased.
Her face paled and I burst out laughing.
"Look at that face. Oh goodness. That is precious." I slapped my thigh, "But no. I'm not going to let him get the Soul Stone. The reason I don't want you to kill yourself is simple. I like happy endings. Especially ones where I don't lose anything. And found family..." I made a chef's kiss, "...one of my favourite tropes. But most of all I pity you. You remind me of my kids. And the thought of them not getting their happy endings. Being left to die, all alone, never knowing the love of family...." I shook my head.
"Don't do that...." Gamora sniffled realising my implications.
"Don't give me hope."
"It's not hope, idiot. It's a near certainty. His name is Peter Quill. A Ravager.
He's an idiot. But he's destined to be your idiot. And while I have already destroyed that destiny, you can still find him. Him and everyone else who would have been with you. A new and loving family. You could have it all." I explained.
She dropped the dagger, and I smiled, only for her to pull out a second smaller dagger and nearly slit her throat before I caught her.
"What did I just fucking tell you?! Why are you so goddamn keen on dying? I'll take care of your father, so just-"
"Just become a puppet of yours? Make a happy little family drama for your amusement!?" She shouted at me, her voice laced with vitriol.
"Do you even know what I've been through? What I have done?"
"What?" I looked at her confused, as tears streamed down her face.
"I am a monster! A murderer! I....I don't deserve love! I don't deserve...." She sobbed.
Oh boy. So it's that again huh.
Another Riley.
Now I know why I was getting those protective feelings from her.
Well, at least I know I'm not adopting this one.
I knelt down beside her, and put an arm around her shoulder.
"There there." I patted her back.
"It'll be okay. And trust me, I know. Well, mostly okay, but you know, you take what you can get." I shrugged, as we sat for a while till she calmed down.
Gamora looked up at me like I was an idiot.
"Aren't you afraid that I will stab you?" She asked.
I snorted in amusement, and ruffled her hair, much to her annoyance.
"Kid. If you could hurt me, I'd jave doed a billion times before."
"I'm not a kid." She swatted my hand away.
"You're younger than me. So you're a kid." I replied.
"I'm 21!" She frowned.
"Yeah. But you still act like a teenager. Boohoo, I don't deserve love~" I mocked.
"Aren't you supposed to be consoling me?"
"Aren't you supposed to be a fearsome assassin?" I shot back.
This time, she chuckled, almost involuntarily.
"You know maybe..." She turned to me, looking me in the eyes.
"Yeah, no. Not happening." I shot her down instantly, as my contacts beeped with an alert.
Thanos had teleported again. To Xandar this time.
Probably to get a ship to somewhere else.
And almost immediately, Saraswati messaged me to inform me of it.
Silently, I opened her a portal to Xandar, as I stood up, patting my pants.
"Anyways, I have to go hunt your father down. I've transferred the information on all those people to your memory chip. Go find them. Live a happy life. And get away from this whole mess."
I patted her back, and teleported a forcefield generator onto the palace.
No time to loot anymore either. At least the forcefield should keep the looters out.
"Or don't. Your life. Your choice."
She looked over the information, and frowned.
"Why are you even helping me? Why not just kill me?" She asked, confused.
"Honestly? Because you remind me of my daughter. And more than that, just because I can." I answered absentmindedly, teleprorting the reality anchor back to my storage unit, "When you're as powerful as me, you can do whatever you want. Help people, destroy worlds, eat all the candy you want...." I looked at her, "show a lost, little girl a path forward."
"I'm not a little girl!" She repeated.
"Then stop acting like one. And you know, try giving life a chance. It will smack you straight down into the dirt, no doubts about that, but at least try to stay on your feet for as long as you can before that happens.
After all, that's all anyone can do.
And who knows, maybe you'll even find joy in it." I said, opening a portal to Xandar.
"Come on now. I'm going to Xandar. I'll give you a lift. Or a portal in this case."
"Can I join in? I want a shot at the man who ruined my life. I want to be the one to kill him." She said, her voice dripping with hatred.
"Sure. Why not?" I smiled, ans stepped through.
