Tori Phoenix was abducted by space pirates at a young age and later rescued by her adoptive brother Rocket.
Peter Quill was abducted by Yondu Udonta and grew up as a Ravager.
Both are from Terra, and maybe both of them need each other.
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Tori didn't want to believe what she just read. There is no way her parents could be criminals. But the pictures. The pictures were definitely of Helen and Fernando. What would make her parents turn to a life of crime? What if they were planning to kill her? Tori heard a knock on the door.
"Tori, your father and I are back. We have a gift for you" Helen said. She unlocked the door and then open it. "Come on, you're going to love your gift" Tori followed Helen onto the bridge of the ship. Fernando was waiting for them, holding something behind his back.
"Tori, now that we're a family again, your mom and I wanted to get you a gift" Fernando said. He revealed the gift behind his back, which was a very priceless looking necklace. There is no way they could have afforded that. They probably stole it or something but Tori decided to play along.
"Wow. It's beautiful. How did you afford it?" Tori asked
"That's for your father and I to worry about. Now even though this is your gift, we're not just going to give it to you. There's something you must do for us" Helen said
"Like what?"
"You must steal the orb back from the Nova Corps"
~
As soon as they contacted Nova Corps, the Guardians went straight to Xandar to speak with Nova Prime in person.
"The Phoenix's are highly wanted criminals. They're known for stealing the most priceless and most dangerous artifacts in the galaxy. They are believed to be kidnappers and murderers as well" Nova Prime explained.
"That's why we need to get Tori back. What if they kill her?" Peter said
"Why would they kill her? They're her parents" Drax asked
"Her parents sound like pretty messed up people. It wouldn't surprise me if they did kill her" Rocket said
"That's why we need to find her and make sure she's safe" Peter said
"And we will. Is there any known information on who they kidnapped?" Gamora asked
"Only one couple that we know of. It was a couple from Earth" Nova Prime explained. That seemed a bit suspicious to Gamora.
~
"Why do you want me to steal the orb?" Tori questioned.
"S.H.I.E.L.D contacted us recently. They heard about the Infinity Stone within the orb and they asked us to bring it to them. You know, for safe keeping" Helen explained. Tori wasn't buying it.
"Well, I have no idea what S.H.I.E.L.D is, but I can assure you that the orb is safer with Nova Corps"
"We don't care if it's safer there! We need that orb and you're going to get it for us" Fernando said.
"What are you going to do if I don't?" Tori asked. Fernando grabbed one of the nearby blades and pressed it against his daughter's cheek. She could feel it cutting in her skin. He dragged it along her cheek, which caused it to slice open and start bleeding. Tori winced in pain. "If you don't get that orb, your mother and I will kill you"
"And we won't stop there. We'll also kill your precious guardian family" Helen warned. She grasped Tori's jaw. "We won't stop there either. We'll kill thousands of innocent people, then it'll be all your fault because you refused to steal the orb"
"Fine, I'll get the orb back. Just don't kill anyone who doesn't deserve to die" Tori said. Fernando removed the blade from her cheek. Helen grasped onto her arm and took her below the deck of the ship.
"You're going to stay down here until we reach Xandar. Don't even think about snooping around" Helen warned. She shut the door, leaving Tori in what little lightness there was. What happened to her parents? They used to be the kindest people around but now they're monsters. As she sat in silence, she could hear the muffled whimpering coming from one of the rooms. Tori approached the room where the muffled whimpers were coming from.
"I know someone is in there. I'm coming in and I'm going to help you" she spoke softly but loud enough so whoever was inside the room could hear her. When she opened the door, there was a man and a woman tied up and gagged. What shocked her the most is that they looked exactly like Helen and Fernando.
"Mom? Dad?"
~
When the Guardian's returned to the Milano, the search for Tori and her parents continued. Gamora couldn't help but think about what Nova Prime said about the couple that was abducted from Earth. She knew something didn't fit.
"You seem quiet" Peter said to her.
"There's something that doesn't make sense about Tori's parents" Gamora said
"Of course they don't make sense. They're psychopaths" Rocket said
"It's about what Nova Prime said. Why would they kidnap a couple from Earth? Why would they live a life of theft and murder if they just wanted to find their daughter?"
"I don't know. Maybe they aren't really Tori's parents" Peter said. Gamora and Rocket looked at Peter in surprise, but what he said actually made a bit of sense. "What?"
"Quill, that's one of the smartest things to ever come out of your mouth" Rocket said
"You know, I wasn't being serious about that right?"
"But it makes sense. What if the couple that was kidnapped are Tori's real parents?" Gamora said
"So you're trying to say that a pair of psycho aliens kidnapped Tori's parents, made themselves look exactly like them, possibly killed them, committed a life of crime disguised as them and then kidnapped their daughter?"
"Yes, and the criminals are either planning to use Tori or kill her, which is why we need to find her" Gamora said. Rocket's tracker started beeping. He took it out and looked at it.
"Looks like the fake parents are heading for Xandar. Unfortunately for them, we're close enough to stop them from reaching it" he said
