The accommodations for the three prisoners were a stark contrast to the welcome Rocket and Groot had received. Nebula and Gamora were, after all, still considered enemies, and Star-Lord had proven himself to be more of a liability than an asset. If not for his bumbling, Peter would never have been injured, and Ronan would never have gotten his hands on the Power Stone, fake or not.
When they saw Ben approaching their cells, Nebula and Gamora remained silent, their expressions unreadable. Only Star-Lord made a scene, scrambling to the energy bars of his cage, his voice echoing in the sterile corridor.
"Hey! Buddy! Pal! I know you're going up against that Thanos guy," he pleaded, his voice oozing a desperate, misplaced confidence. "I don't know him personally, but any guy who gets on Spider-Boy's bad side is an enemy of mine! Let me out! I can help you guys win this!"
He postured as if he were the galaxy's last great hero, the secret weapon that would guarantee their victory. Ben ignored the pathetic display. He walked directly to the cage, reached through the energy field with practiced ease, and swiftly plucked a single strand of hair from Star-Lord's head.
"Yeow!" Quill yelped, recoiling in pain.
Ben examined the hair between his fingers. Star-Lord might be a buffoon, but he was a buffoon with a divine bloodline. His father, Ego, was a Celestial, an ancient and powerful being who was once a member of the Universe's Council of Elders. In terms of raw power, Ego's genetic template was an invaluable prize. The only question was whether the Omnitrix could truly replicate such a being. Ego's true form was a living planet; the body that had fathered Star-Lord was merely a temporary avatar created through an advanced manipulation of matter. Still, if the potential existed within Quill's DNA, the Omnitrix could find it.
As if on cue, the watch on his wrist beeped softly, the analysis complete.
[Genetic sample acquired. Celestial planetary consciousness detected… Cross-referencing… Similar DNA signature found in Primus database. DNA of Galilean species downloaded.]
A Gallilean? Ben thought, a flicker of surprise cutting through his composure. Gravattack.
Like Ego, the Gallileans were a species of living planetoids. Gravattack's form was a reddish-brown sphere of rock and earth, with a molten core and a massive mouth. It was far smaller than a full Celestial, and it lacked Ego's complex matter-manipulation abilities, but it possessed a singular, devastating power: absolute control over gravity, potent enough to generate localized black holes.
It was a welcome surprise. While Ego was undoubtedly more powerful, controlling a consciousness the size of a moon was impractical. Transforming into such a being on a populated world like Earth or Sakaar would instantly shred the planet's gravitational field. Gravattack, however, was perfect—a tactical powerhouse, compact and controllable.
With Star-Lord's DNA secured, Ben turned his attention to the other two. The genetic makeup of the Zehoberei and Luphomoid species wasn't particularly remarkable, but they would serve to broaden the Omnitrix's gene pool. The only snag was Nebula's complete lack of hair. Unfazed, Ben collected a small skin scraping from her arm.
Throughout the process, Gamora watched in stony silence. Only when Ben was finished did she speak, her voice low and tense. "Are you intending to kill Thanos?."
Before Ben could answer, Nebula shot to her feet, her voice a low, venomous hiss. "Don't bother with her. She is, after all, Thanos's favorite."
Nebula rounded on her, her cybernetic eye glowing with cold fire. "I betrayed him a long time ago. My hatred for him is no secret." She held up her metal arm, a permanent monument to Thanos's cruel tutelage. "This is what he calls fatherly love."
A child rebelling against a tyrannical parent, Ben thought wryly. A tale as old as time.
"I can help you," Nebula declared, her gaze locking onto Ben's. Her voice was cold, but beneath it lay a bedrock of unbreakable resolve. She knew the Plumbers had defeated Thanos's forces before. This, she realized, might be her one and only chance to finally be free. The concept of betrayal was laughable. She had already left Thanos to become a space pirate, only to be dragged back by Gamora herself.
"You're insane," Gamora breathed, her eyes wide with a mixture of fear and disbelief. "There is no good end to defying him. He has the Power Stone now. We have no chance."
Gamora's words were the spark that ignited Nebula's rage. "Am I the one who is insane?" she sneered, her voice dripping with scorn. "Perhaps. It's difficult to remain rational when your brain has been taken apart and reassembled a thousand times." She took a step closer to the bars separating them. "I called him father, but he never once treated me as a daughter."
Her tone shifted, becoming sharp and accusatory. "But you, Gamora… do you love him? Do you love that monster? Do you love the man who butchered the people of Zehoberei?"
The question struck Gamora like a physical blow, and she fell silent. Even Star-Lord stopped his whining, his ears perked as he watched the drama unfold. He'd thought Thanos and his daughters were the picture of twisted filial piety.
Gamora couldn't answer. No matter how much Thanos had favored her, doted on her, and called her his favorite, nothing could erase the shadows in her heart. She remembered the screams, the fire, the day her world burned. She remembered her parents. Like Nebula, she had long harbored plans of rebellion. It was why she had kept the location of the Soul Stone a secret, desperate to prevent Thanos from achieving his terrible destiny.
But now, faced with the reality of open war, she hesitated. She knew his power intimately, and she could not imagine a soul in the universe capable of defeating him. And beneath the layers of hatred and fear, there was something else, a toxic bond she was loath to admit existed. Over the long, brutal years, she had, in some small, damaged part of herself, come to see the monster as her father.
While she wavered, trapped in her own internal conflict, Ben made his decision. With a quiet click, the energy field restraining Nebula dissolved.
A flicker of joyous disbelief crossed the blue-skinned cyborg's face, quickly replaced by a grim seriousness as she contemplated the war to come. If she could help kill Thanos, she would celebrate for a millennium. But no one knew how this conflict would end. Perhaps her father would be disappointed to learn of her betrayal.
She squared her shoulders. So what? she thought. I have never satisfied him anyway.
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