~ 💎 WEEKLY POWER GOALS 💎🔥 60→1ch | 100→2ch | 200→5ch ⏰ Resets Monday! Thanks!
"I can serve you! I'll do anything!" Quill said, stumbling over his words.
A mocking smile tugged at Hermione's lips.
"Serve me? I can't afford a subordinate who doesn't listen and loves to tell me what to do."
Quill went pale. He opened his mouth and found nothing to say.
He knew his earlier behavior had angered this unfathomable witch. And if Hermione refused to help, he was on his own — forget rescuing Gamora, he probably couldn't even reach Titan.
Anxiety and regret came crashing in at once.
Just as Quill was tipping toward despair, Hermione's tone shifted. "That said... bringing you along isn't out of the question."
Quill's head snapped up. Hope flooded back into his eyes.
"But when the time comes, you'll have to do something for me." She spoke without hurry. "I need to use you to draw someone out. Could be a little dangerous."
"No problem. I'll agree to anything." Quill didn't even pause to think.
"Good." Hermione nodded, her gaze moving to Rocket Raccoon, Drax, and Groot. "Bring your crew."
She looked at Yondu. "You too."
...
Titan.
The planet's surface stretched endlessly — shattered peaks, crumbling structures, a silence so complete it felt like the last breath of something long dead. The air carried the heavy chill of a world already finished.
The Dark Aster emerged from its jump point and descended slowly, finally settling on the ground.
Those who stepped off the warship weren't Kree. It was Hermione, Yondu, and a band of Ravagers.
After Ronan bit the dust, the ship had naturally fallen to her as spoils. The Ravagers were nearly vibrating with excitement — they were actually flying Ronan's warship.
The planet was exactly as Hermione had expected: a desolate wasteland. If no one had told her it was Titan, she might have mistaken it for the Dark Elves' Svartalfheim.
Ahead, the Sanctuary II hung in low orbit.
Below, a unit of soldiers stood in rigid formation, armored and silent, energy weapons at their sides, an army posed for inspection.
Freshly cultivated Chitauri.
What surprised Hermione was that Thanos had come in person. Ebony Maw, Corvus Glaive, Proxima Midnight, all of them, already waiting when she landed.
At the head of the formation, Thanos stood with his hands clasped behind his back.
The sheer scale of the reception made clear exactly how much weight he placed on this meeting.
Hmm. Where was The Other, though?
Had Thanos had him dragged out and executed?
Ebony Maw stepped forward first, face arranged into an expression of careful respect, nothing like the arrogance he'd worn back in Knowhere.
"Most esteemed Lady Witch." He bowed low. "Lord Thanos has been waiting." He gestured politely. "Please."
Hermione nodded and stepped off the ship, eyes sweeping the assembled formation.
Ebony Maw's change in attitude was no surprise. Both the wizarding world and the cosmic one ran on the same ancient rule: the strong are revered. It had never been otherwise.
"Ebony Maw," she said pleasantly. "Good to see you're well."
She responded to softness with softness. If he was going to bow and scrape, she wasn't going to throw insults at him, she'd feel ridiculous calling him Squidward to his face now.
At Thanos's side, Corvus Glaive and Proxima Midnight exchanged a glance. Their brows tightened, just barely. They clearly didn't approve of Ebony Maw's near-fawning display. But with Thanos standing right there, both kept their mouths shut.
Hermione noted that Thanos was standing. Not seated on that iconic throne of his.
That was unexpected. The Purple Yam really was trying to make a good impression.
She walked forward to meet him. Before she could say a word, there was a commotion behind her, Quill shoved through and bellowed, "Where is Gamora?!"
The fragile calm of the moment shattered.
Thanos opened his mouth.
SMACK!
Quill went sideways like a kite with its string cut, hit the ground hard, and didn't move.
Hermione lowered her hand and turned back to Thanos. "My apologies. The people under me don't know their manners."
Yondu had startled at the hit, but one look confirmed Quill was only unconscious, no mortal danger. He let out a slow breath.
Served the kid right, honestly. He'd let Quill run wild for years. A proper lesson was long overdue, someone needed to teach him how to conduct himself in front of people who could end him.
Thanos waved a hand. He wasn't bothered.
"It's nothing." He glanced at Quill on the ground, voice unhurried. "I can tell him that Gamora is in the Sanctuary II's detention level. She's unharmed." He paused briefly. "She is my daughter. However rebellious she becomes, I will always forgive her."
Hermione nodded. That much she believed.
Whatever else you said about Thanos and his grand cosmic ambitions, Gamora was the one thing he genuinely cared about. She remembered it clearly from the original storyline, when Ronan had gone to report Gamora's betrayal, Thanos had turned around and scolded Ronan instead, ruling that Ronan himself had driven her away.
When it came to his favored daughter, the universe's most feared warlord could be completely unreasonable. Aggressively protective, no logic needed.
But it raised the question.
Something flickered in Hermione's eyes. She looked up at Thanos. "What about Nebula? She's your daughter too, isn't she?"
At the name, Thanos's expression didn't shift at all. He might have been discussing a piece of furniture.
"Nebula?" His tone was perfectly flat. "She's a playmate I gave Gamora. A training dummy. That's all."
Even Yondu glanced sideways at that.
A training dummy. For an unfavored adopted daughter, that was still brutally cold.
"Oh?" Hermione raised an eyebrow. "So what exactly is the difference between them? What makes you favor one so completely over the other?"
She paused, and a note of teasing crept into her voice. "Don't tell me it's because you like green and not blue. Because if that's the case, you should be out there helping the Skrulls beat the Kree senseless."
She reached over and patted Yondu on the arm.
"Which would put you in a very awkward position."
Yondu's jaw twitched. So did Thanos's.
Strictly speaking, this was Thanos's family business, and Hermione had no business prying. But she was genuinely curious. Even watching the films in her past life, she'd never been able to make sense of it. Nebula had been loyal to Thanos to a fault, desperate to prove herself, desperate for his approval. Gamora had opposed him at every turn, working against everything he was trying to accomplish.
And yet every bit of paternal feeling Thanos had seemed to belong entirely to Gamora.
It didn't add up.
➤ Next: Marvel Rule Anomaly?
[FULL STORY ACCESS]
📖 Read ahead up to [Chapter 291]
✨ Support the author: https://p a t r e o n（.）com/DarkGolds