We arrived in a relatively seedy area fi the city, one that is not normally accessible, but with my information gathering earlier, I had physically seen this place so all I had to do was connect to someone from here, look through their eyes, and poof I could teleport there.
It wasn't only that, I had realized some time ago that there were two limitations that Nightcrawler had on his ability, it was a strong body, and a need to see where he was going.
My body was already plenty strong with my spider powers alone, and I found that as long as I could provide the energy, I could teleport to even a place I'd never been to, I'd only have to see the location and it didn't have to be in person, hence using the Xandarian memory to travel here.
Looking around, I could see what was essentially the slums of the city and I saw what looked to be homeless and what I'd say looked like some kind of druggie they were clearly tweaking.
Natasha was less than happy about being here and her guard was up despite herself.
I saw her tense and I put a hand on her shoulder. She looked at me and then saw my smug smile.
She instantly knew I was being smug because I was teasing her for being worried when I was here.
She scoffed at me and shrugged my hand off her shoulder.
"So why are we here? When I agreed to go with you, I expected a glamorous space adventure, now we're here in the shifty part of an alien city." Nat asked irritable.
"I know, but I wouldn't have brought you here for no reason." I said still not explaining why which caused Nat to grumble.
We eventually came across a dilapidated building with a broken flickering sign that I knew was the name of a bar simply called The Quasar as I could read and write Xandarian now.
We entered Inside and it was filled with a bunch of different species, many humanoid. They stared at us and a few glared and some gave lecherous glances at Nat.
Just as it seemed they would do something, my eyes suddenly started to shine red as I started to use Cyclops' power. I didn't shoot any beams, but I made them shine very bright and you could feel the power behind them.
Right after that, I waved my hand and two chairs floated away from the bar where Nat and I then sat.
We got a few more looks but they stopped after a while as they realized I was not an easy target and neither was Nat as she was with me so it was assumed she had power too.
I got the bartender's attention.
"I'm looking for Glebe." I said
The bartender, having already seen my little demonstration earlier, nodded and pointed to a corner booth.
"He normally sits over there, he'll probably stop by in an hour or two." He explained to which I nodded my thanks.
Nat was staring at me confused as I and the bartender were both speaking Xandarian and if Nat didn't know any better, she'd think I was a native of Xandar with how fluently I was speaking it.
"So you can speak the language now? Where'd you pick that up?" She asked.
"Let's just say, I know a guy." I responded with a grin which Nat simply ignored after a pause as I told her that we'd be waiting for someone who'd be seated at the corner booth.
"How long until he gets here?" Nat asked.
"About an hour." I replied as I ordered two drinks with some coins I lifted from a drunk patron.
The coins were some sort of alien metal and were only really used in areas like we were currently in, as Units were the general currency elsewhere else.
These types of coins were used specifically so that no one would know we were here think of it like using cash so it can't be tracked.
Nat and I had been conversing in Russian just in case, but most likely a translator chip would make our choice pointless, but better safe than sorry.
———————————————————
(About an hour later)
The guy who I knew to be Glebe from the memories I had seen, walked in and took his normal corner booth, tossing a couple of coins toward the bartender who waved.
Glebe was humanoid, but the outside of his body was covered in purple protrusions everywhere but the bottom of the hands and feet, his face and head both had black hair on them.
The tops of his hands had three claw-like appendages that could be elongated at will if needed. (Think Falcon's Talons from Ninja Gaiden)
I waited until Glebe had gotten a few drinks in and then walked over with Nat carrying two drinks in my hand.
I sat down at the booth, sliding a drink over to Glebe.
"So, I hear you can get things for people" I said not asking anything but insinuating.
"So what if I can? What's it to you?" He replied with a less than cordial tone.
"I can make it worth your while." I said as I reached behind my back, morphed my hand into an enlarged ball of pure vibranium, and cut my hand off silently as it grew back and turned back to normal.
I placed the large ball of metal on the table and it made a loud thudding sound.
"I hear you're a connoisseur of rare metals, well this is as rare as you'll get." I said.
Glebe seemed intrigued now as he took out a device that scanned the metal and after a few minutes, it beeped.
He looked at the device, then the metal, then back at me.
"What kind of metal is this?" He asked.
"Let me guess, you didn't get any conclusive result from your scan did you?" I asked with a grin.
He nodded then looked around quickly.
"I'm really interested in this, let's go somewhere private." Glebe said.
I nodded and held out my hand. Glebe seemed confused but assumed it was just a greeting, but when he grabbed my hand, the three of us disappeared as I had already told Nat Telepathically to hold onto me.
All the other patrons seemed shocked when they saw the three disappear and many of the people who had plans to try and get something from the mysterious powerful being despite the abilities he'd shown, instantly decided against it as it seemed that being was hiding more power and it was just too much of a risk as they didn't know if he could be hiding something else.
They had seen him create that giant ball of metal as well and didn't hear him make a sound when he cut his own hand, that combined with his hand healing was even more of a reason that they decided to not act.
The group of three appeared in an alley right outside the bar after which Glebe cursed in Xandarian.
He then looked at me. "That's some power you got, any other surprises for me?" He asked.
"Stay tuned." I replied smiling.
Glebe nodded and then motioned for us to follow him, which we did without hesitation.
The reason I showed my power was because one, I was powerful enough to not have to worry, and two, It let Glebe know that I could escape no matter what he'd try.
This would make him more inclined to not try anything as he'd feel it'd be an exercise in futility and would also trust me more as he'd know that I'd have no reason to lie as I could just escape if he tried anything.
He led us to a rundown building that looked like an apartment or hotel that was just as dilapidated as the rest of this part of the city and as we walked inside the building we eventually came across a room which we followed Glebe into.
Surprisingly, we were met with the voice of a young girl.
"Papa!" A young girl said in Xandarian as she ran up to Glebe.
I was surprised to meet Glebe's daughter as I expected him to take us to some sort of base of operations for his business venture.
I ignored their interactions even when his daughter asked questions. Eventually, he sent her away and Glebe turned to us.
"I scanned your metal and I found no record of it at all, if that's the case then that means that it is more than just a rare Xandarian metal. It's not Xandarian at all, is it? It's not even from this quadrant?" Glebe asked.
"No, it comes from a planet called C-53, and I guarantee I am the only supplier of this metal you'll ever meet." I explained.
"C-53? That backwater planet? Who would've thought it'd have such a treasure?" Glebe commented off-handedly as he said it mostly to himself.
"How much of this metal do you have and how much do you want for it?" Glebe asked.
"Straight to the point, I like it. If we're talking prices, I think 5 billion Units would be reasonable." I said and waited as I knew what his reaction would be.
"5 BILLION UNITS!! Do you think I have that kind of money? If I did, do you think I'd be living in this shithole with my daughter?" He questioned angrily.
"You may not have that money, but your employer does." I replied which made him stiffen.
"W-what are you talking about?" He asked failing to hide his nervousness at being found out.
"I know you work for the Tivan Group." I whispered in his ear.
He looked like he was going to deny it again but when he looked at my eyes, he somehow knew he wouldn't be able to lie so he sighed heavily.
"Fine, you win. I work for the Tivan Group, and I'm in charge of procuring rare materials, metals, technology, and specimens if required. In return, get a meager monthly payment that would allow my daughter and I to live wherever we wanted." Glebe explained.
"Then why live here?" I questioned despite having an idea and not wanting to read his mind.
"Because I haven't always worked for the Tivan Group. A sudden change of someone like me moving into a rich area would raise alarms. The Nova Corps know that things happen in this part of the city but let it happen as long as we don't cross their bottom line, and as long as they don't know about it." Glebe explained.
'Hmm. Out of sight out of mind. As long as there is no obvious sign, then they won't act. And someone spontaneously moving from the slums to the nicer areas of the city would set off red flags.' I pondered.
"So, can you afford the purchase with your meager monthly payment?" I questioned knowing it was a very large amount.
"Such a large payment would get the Nova Corps' attention." Glebe replied.
"So do you have the coordinates for the Tivan Group so I can go to them?" I asked.
"Someone like me isn't blessed with such information, when I acquire things for them, I send a transmission with the information of the object, and the asking price. I'm then sent coordinates to a place in the city for a hand-off and my payment arrives the next day for me, and to pay the client" He explained.
'I thought as much, but that is enough to find a way to meet with The Collector and get the money I need' I thought excitedly as a plan was formed.
"Alright that's all I need, tell your employer that I am offering 10 tons of the metal but give them a lower price, say 1 million." I explained knowing that all 1 million would go to Glebe as I would essentially be paying him for information.
Glebe nodded and said that he normally would receive a reply in about 3 days, less if it was a particularly interesting item.
I nodded and after talking for about another hour or so, I bid him farewell saying goodbye to his daughter as well who was named Mentka. Nat had been hanging out with her as she didn't know what we were talking about.
Glebe had offered her an external translator chip that one puts behind their ear to allow her to talk to his daughter.
The chip translates spoken word into whatever language the other speaks and his daughter also had one so it was no issue. Even with the chip, Nat didn't understand who the Tivan Group was or any of the other things they were talking about. She didn't care anyway as this was all a vacation for her.
From the rest of my conversation with Glebe, I had a more concrete idea of the situation throughout the galaxy and I discovered what I already knew about the Tivan Group and more.
All I'd say after everything I'd found out is a phrase that is true even back on Earth.
Money Is Power.