"Hey, you, what are you doing?" With the Orb in hand, Tohka led Miku back into the prison cell block. Her purpose was to wait here for a few specific people. Even though she and Miku had already taken over the entire prison thanks to Miku's abilities and her own fists, she really didn't want to stay here any longer. Since she'd decided to hand the Orb over to the Nova Corps, Tohka planned to keep up appearances to the end. Besides, the universe was so vast—taking a ride on Star-Lord's ship to look around sounded like a good idea.
After all, space travel was something countless people in her previous life had dreamed of. Though she wanted to get back to that other world, it wouldn't hurt to spend a little extra time here.
What surprised her, though, was how quickly it all happened. The guy known as "The Destroyer," Drax, had already captured Gamora. Then again, thinking about it, it made sense: she'd beaten down all the troublemakers and turned the guards into half-cripples. So, while the place was more peaceful than usual, the security force was much weaker. No wonder the guy had gotten bolder. Still, since he only targeted people connected to his enemies and usually behaved himself, Tohka hadn't bothered to deal with him before. That's probably why he was now picking a fight in broad daylight—most of the inmates here had beef with Ronan anyway.
"This doesn't concern you. She's Thanos's daughter. Ronan's lapdog. I'm going to kill her to avenge my family." Staring at Tohka, Drax spoke in an utterly flat tone. But that just made the conviction in him more obvious. Tohka knew that if she let him actually kill Gamora, her plans would be ruined. But before she could do anything, someone else intervened. That scruffy man was none other than Star-Lord, the de facto leader of the Guardians of the Galaxy.
"Who are you? And why are you wearing that in here?" Star-Lord, not one to disappoint as another Marvel motor-mouth, quickly talked Drax down. But then he finally noticed Tohka and Miku. After all, everyone else in the prison was either wearing those ugly yellow jumpsuits or work uniforms. Only these two looked like they were just casually visiting, like some pampered tourists. But soon, his gaze locked onto the thing Tohka was toying with in her hand. "That's the Orb—why is it with you?"
It had taken him so much effort to get that thing, almost costing him his life in a fight with Ronan's people. Of course he wasn't going to just let it slip through his fingers, so he lunged forward, trying to snatch it back.
Too bad for him, even if he was skilled in all sorts of combat techniques, he hadn't surpassed the limits of a normal human. If he could awaken the Celestial power inside him, Tohka might have been interested. But right now? He was still too slow in her eyes.
She watched him with a sly grin and simply stuck her foot out in front of him. Caught off guard, Star-Lord pitched forward and landed face-first on the floor with a loud smack. Clutching his bruised jaw, he staggered upright.
"Uuuuu, you're horrible!" Climbing back to his feet, Star-Lord looked like he wanted to rush her again, but Drax stepped in to hold him back.
"Don't do it. They're from Asgard." Star-Lord might not have known, but Drax was very aware of Tohka's strength. This was still a prison, and there were plenty of dangerous criminals here—many stronger than him. But all of them had been beaten senseless by Tohka. The guards seemed to have agreed to ignore these two women, so everyone had tacitly accepted that they were big shots from outside, stuck here only for some special reason. Nobody dared provoke them.
"By the way, how much did you say this thing is worth?" But Tohka didn't bother acknowledging Star-Lord. She turned to Gamora instead, her eyes practically seeing the object transformed into a pile of credits. She was technically wealthy, but only on Earth. Out here in space, she didn't have a penny. The only reason she'd behaved herself here was because of that. So she knew: money might not be everything, but without it, you couldn't do anything.
"This… about four billion, I think," Gamora said in a cautious voice, shrinking back a step as Tohka came close. After all, she'd been raised and trained by Thanos himself, with extreme combat skill and a sixth sense for danger. She could tell this girl in front of her had power not inferior to her "father." Killing her would be effortless.
"Four billion, huh? How about this: I'll get you out of here, but I'm taking two billion as my fee." Don't underestimate that figure—out in space, it was an astronomical sum. Remember in Guardians of the Galaxy 2, those gold-painted weirdos only offered a million to hire Yondu's Ravagers. You could imagine how much buying power two billion represented.
"Hey, hey! I went through all that trouble to get this—you've gotta cut me in!" At that moment, Star-Lord, who'd been left off to the side, suddenly yelled. He knew that if he just stood there doing nothing, he'd walk away empty-handed.
"You bastard, don't even think about running—we came here to hunt you!" A certain raccoon now joined them, but he clearly hadn't heard the whole conversation. He'd come to nab Star-Lord but was instantly distracted by the mention of all that money.
"I am Groot…" And then there was the big plant—a tall, walking tree who'd someday be everyone's favorite adorable mascot.
"Uh… did you guys rehearse this ahead of time or something?" Tohka's eye twitched as she looked at them, not even sure how to start mocking them. "I'm taking two billion. The rest, you can split among yourselves."
"Why do you get half?!" The raccoon exploded on the spot, jumping in front of her and screaming.
"You mangy raccoon, get lost. What would you even do with that much money? Want me to find you a female raccoon so you can have babies?" Tohka couldn't be bothered to argue. She simply reached out to grab him by the scruff.
Of course, Rocket wasn't going to just sit there—he bared his teeth and bit down hard on her approaching hand.
"AAAAHHHH!!" Just like the vampire from before, Rocket's face twisted in agony. It felt like he'd just chomped down on a steel bar, and he let out a pained screech.