Observer POV:
After a wild night, Tenno stood in the middle of his suite and looked down upon Drax and Thor, who had seemingly fallen asleep in each other's arms, while lying on the floor.
"Wake up, guys, we've got a thief to catch," he said, but got no reaction in turn. He sighed and nodded towards a grinning Rocket, who then threw a bucket of water right at their faces, waking them up in an instant.
"WAKE UP, KNUCKLEHEADS, WE'VE GOT WORK TO DO!!!" He jelled through a megaphone held right next to their ears.
"Yes, yes, calm down, you all, I have awakened," Thor slurred, before tumbling towards the sink and activating the water fountain.
"You Asgardians truly know how to drink one under the table," Drax lulled while also tumbling over to his newfound companion.
Wanda looked at Tenno in worry, but he just smiled at her and shrugged, "If that's how they want to live their lives, that's their decision. And they have a different tolerance for alcohol than humans, so they will be fine."
Rocket smiled evilly, while looking over to Quill, who stood in the corner with a pair of sunglasses and headphones with noise-cancelling on, "Humans truly can't tolerate Alcohol like other species, but don't fret, young one. They will be fine and have probably endured worse."
Gamora came over to Wanda and slung an arm around her shoulder, "I would rather worry about our little empath over there. She had one glass yesterday and is still out cold. Maybe you can help me wake her up with that magic of yours." She tried to distract her, which she accomplished, as they headed off together.
Tenno looked after Wanda with a smile before his gaze settled on Rockets holopad, where a bunch of schematics and security videos flew across the screen, "So, what did you find out from your contact in the security service?" he finally asked, referring to the activity's Rocket had been up to in the morning while the rest of the team was still asleep.
"Somebody's stealing millions of credits worth in Data. They've found a way to crack the security systems." Rocket said while tapping through the data.
„Yesterday, 55 men, all ex-security, were hired by one of the largest data brokers in the city. They dressed the men in identical outfits, gave each one a randomly assigned security briefcase, and sent them along 25 different routes around the district. No one knew which briefcase contained the data, but they were still stolen."
„Why all the theater?" Tenno asked, as he also began to analyze the date.
„They were afraid because somebody's targeting data… an armored vehicle in Heaven Street, a safe in downtown, and now this… over 30 mil total. Each theft occurred despite heavy security."
„They sound like inside jobs," Tenno said as he finally looked up at Rocket,
„A lot of people share that opinion," he responded. „You don't? Cameras catch any of the action?"
„The Techs are already checking. The system went dark for an hour. They think it was hacked." Rocket responded while showing him the lack of footage in a specific time frame.
„It was the same thieves each time?" Tenno questioned as he began to walk around the sofas in circles.
„Yes, but it was just one thief… a Man. And He did it all with his eyes closed."
„Eyewitnesses I.D. him?"
„No, but I ran a facial-recognition software on the surrounding cameras, cross-referenced them with our criminal databases. And guess what I found."
„Frank Moldin," Tenno said with a smile, while Rocket nodded and opened said file.
"Frank Moldin was a security Agent. Seven years ago, he led a raid on one of downtown's gulags. Everyone believed that he and the two other agents on the mission were killed. The leading officer had her doubts. So she sent in a second team, just in case. They found a lot of carnage but couldn't confirm that any of it was Moldin… so he was presumed dead."
„That's why you chose this place as our vacation spot… when you heard about the heists," Quill spoke up with a rough voice, before he began to cough violently, and both of them smiled in amusement.
„There are only a few men in the universe who could pull off something so impossible. Since Tenno was on earth and I wasn't there, I thought it had to be him." Rocket responded, smiling.
He tapped further on his pad, then connected to the projector, and a 3d map of the station appeared. „Customs Scans confirmed that Moldin left the complex using an alias on a Downtown passport. He took the elevator to the third level and bought a transport ticket to a complex quadrant called Threedom. I've also put together a list of individuals who could fence that much data in the vicinity. There's been no contact or activity."
„Maybe he's saving them for a rainy day, buying something special. Let's focus on finding Frank and not his buyer." Tenno said, while coming to a stop next to Rocket.
„I'll let H.Q. know he's alive so they can assist with the manhunt," Quill said as he tried to find his own holo in his pockets, but Rocket stopped him.
„I'd like to hold off on that. Until we know more, contact the third-level authorities. Find us a place to set up camp. Put together a list of inns, hotels, and pensions near Threedom. There can't be that many of them. We'll find him."
After everyone sobered up at least a bit, they headed off to their target's presumed location, which, interestingly, led them into a mall, where Mantis jumped in circles of joy.
„How exciting. I've dreamed of visiting the shopping district of a megacity since I was a little girl, but Ego never allowed me to."
Wanda looked at her strangely, just as well fascinated by the alien Mall, but still more cautious than intrigued, „Shopping? A dream come true? Really?"
„It's the birthplace of so much beauty, you don't know what a shopping district is?" Mantis said, confused, while laying her head to the side like a confused dog.
„Well, no, of course I know what that is, thank you very much. We're all well aware of that. I'm just a little bit preoccupied. My first and only other time in the field wasn't exactly a picnic, was it?" Wanda responded quickly, while feigning ignorance of the surrounding spectacle.
Rhino walked up to her, before reassuring, „You guys are only here to look over Rocket's shoulder, who stays behind and observes the security feed. You won't even need to leave the building."
After wandering around for a while and having several arguments about whether they should put Mantis on a leash since she ran off so often, they finally reached their designated base of operations.
Rocket was already preparing his station of operation as Tenno materialized next to him,
„If Moldin's here, he'll have to contact his buyer. Scan for transmissions, encrypted messages, and anomalous broadcast signatures. Call us if you find anything that indicates his presence."
Gamora already walked towards the door as she turned around one last time, "Maintain radio silence unless you really need help."
"Well, what exactly defines needing help?!"
Mantis asked naively, but Gamora only shook her head in amusement before leaving with the rest of the Guardians and Thor.
"I can only imagine how painful this must be for you, Rocket," Tenno said, watching the team over the video feed, "betrayed by someone you fought with and whose innocence you believed in."
"We don't have all the facts yet," Rocket responded, but Tenno only lifted his eyebrows in response.
"True, but I have to assume the worst, that Moldi sold out the other two agents on his mission. Wonder what he got in exchange."
Tenno spoke before finally repossessing Rhino and heading for the door.
"I don't know, but until we do, I'm not gonna assume anything," Rocket responded, while turning towards his screens.
Wanda watched Rhino leave without any protest. She knew he could protect himself, and the pack of Kubrows at her feet gave her a sense of security she hadn't felt in a long while, which even lead to a subconscious smile forming on her face. Behind her sat Groot, braiding her long hair with the highest form of intensity while sitting on Mantis's lap. An occupation he had picked up over the short time they had known each other. Supposedly, he always wanted to braid hair, but Gamora never let him, and Mantis' hair was too short, so, as he asked her with Rocket's help, she couldn't refuse the cute little walking sapling.
"There's barely enough electricity in this place to power my systems. Can't be too hard to find him." Rocket murmured to himself, but still loud enough so Wanda could catch it.
"Unless he already knows we're here." Wanda thought to herself, but didn't speak it out loud so she wouldn't jinx it.
Out in the field, Rhino, Thor, and the rest of the guardians had split up and were now scanning the surrounding red light District.
Rhino was walking through an especially nasty alley as Rocket pinged him over comms, "Did you locate Moldin?" Rhino asked, "What? No, not yet. But we've found a broadcast with some weird signal encrypted into it." Rocket responded while sending the frequency to his interface.
"You think Moldin might be communicating on that signal?" Rhino asked, while hiding in the shadows, as a bunch of drunken brutes came around a corner.
Suddenly, Wanda's voice could be heard over the comms. "Maybe he can, but I have an equally pressing question for you, Master. What am I supposed to do if I have to pee?"
"You continue to break radio silence because you need a bathroom break?"
"It was a really, really strange day, and everyone's nervous." She responded as Rocket cut off the feed and pointed towards a corner. "There's a toilet right next to the entrance."
"Right next to the entrance," Wanda said to herself as she walked over, but couldn't find anything remotely resembling a toilet.
"Not the thing that looks like a vacuum tube coming out of the wall?" She eventually asked, while pointing the strange thing at Rockets face, making it wobble around.
"That's the one." Rocket snickered.
"Did you never learn the thing that boy parts and girl parts are different?" She asked as Rocket remotely activated the tube, and it began to vacuum her hair.
"The Team and I are trying to find a dangerous criminal. If there's nothing else pressing…" Rocket said, snickering, while witnessing Wanda pulling her hair out of the tube in disgust, before casting a cleansing spell upon them.
Meanwhile, in an Inn, Quill and Thor were competing with each other on who would find Frank sooner. Peter had caught a Receptionist in the corner of his eye and was just heading her way, „Good day," He greeted, as the lady lifted her head from a notepad.
„Good afternoon."
„I'm Peter Quill. This is Thor Odinson. We're looking for this young man," he spoke quickly, while vaguely gesturing in the direction he believed Thor to be, before he pulled up a picture of Frank on his holo.
„Oh, he's my angel," she responded, while weirdly folding her hands, from an earthling's perspective, looking like she was praying.
„Why do you say that?" he questioned quietly, while leaning over the counter and watching out for Thor.
„He has a gift… knows things. Told me to go to the doctor, who then found a tumor. Had it removed that day. This boy saved me a lot of trouble," she finished, making him smile before leaving the building to catch Rocket up to speed.
„I can't stabilize it. There's an encrypted local signal competing." Rocket said while typing away on his monitor. „But I can crack everything," he continued to murmur to himself before, „One last thing, and Ta-da, got you bitch."
Wanda settled down next to him, „How exactly is that feed helping us?" she questioned, while Rocket scratched his head before speaking up, „That there on the Videofeed, it looks a bit like our building."
Suddenly, the picture turned black and white, as they witnessed a different optic activate, which could somehow look through walls.
„What are we looking at?" Wanda asked, a little scared, while Rocket put up his arm and waved around, watching himself on the videofeed do the exact same thing. „Us," he responded, as they witnessed the camera feed switch back to normal mode, and in the next instance, theVideofeed showed a person holding a red switch, from which he pulled the safety off.
„Let's get out of here!" Rocket said, but Wanda already reacted on instinct, conjuring a bunch of Eldridge shields around the group, which seemed to be right on time, as in the next moment, the whole building exploded in a big Orange fireball.